# Red \[play about Mark Rothko\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-play-about-mark-rothko/615483>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 11, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-play-about-mark-rothko/615483 "2012-03-11T20:29:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-play-about-mark-rothko/615483/1 "2012-03-11T20:29:49Z")

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For those of us in Houston, [RED](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_(play)) is playing at the Alley Theater. SWMBO and I went Friday night with some friends. I thought I would be bored and would probably fall asleep during it.

I was mesmerized. It’s based on the painter [Mark Rothko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rothko), and is set during the time when he was doing the Seagram Murals for the Four Seasons. It’s a two-man show; the Rothko character and a young man that he hires as his assistant. Powerful, powerful stuff from playwright John Logan, who wrote Gladiator, Aviator, The Last Samurai and a bunch of others.

Go see this!

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-play-about-mark-rothko/615483/2 "2012-03-12T15:03:13Z")

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Added more detail to the thread title.

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-play-about-mark-rothko/615483/3 "2012-03-12T17:29:06Z")

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Disliked it intensely, and I’m a big fan of Rothko’s. Cheap laughs at Rothko’s expense.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-play-about-mark-rothko/615483/4 "2012-03-12T18:25:50Z")

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There is presently a big Rothko exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. Rothko had roots here, and there are some 75 or more relatives still living here. We went to a lecture by his son that was very interesting, and then saw the play “Red”. The son said that while the ideas in the play were fairly accurate, Rothko would never have even spoken to his assistants, let alone had lengthy discourse with them, and likely would not have even seen them all that often. However, a play that featured someone just standing on the stage staring at a canvas would be rather pointless, now wouldn’t it?