Mark Rothko sees ‘Red’ in artsy drama opening Olympia Little Theater’s season

Though it has long been venturing beyond its traditional menu of farces and classic comedies, Olympia Little Theatre is probably not the first place you’d expect to see an intense drama about art.

But that’s exactly how Olympia’s oldest live theater is beginning its 79th season. John Logan’s “Red,” in its opening weekend, is a Tony-winning two-man play about abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, known for large-scale paintings composed of irregular rectangles of color.

“I saw a production of it at the Seattle Rep six or seven years ago, and it just blew me away,” said director Jim Patrick. “I like plays that deal with relationships, and that’s what this is. It has great characters and a great relationship.”

The action is set in 1958, when Rothko (Chris Valcho) received a commission to paint murals for the soon-to-open Four Seasons restaurant. The arrogant, angry artist and his fictional assistant Ken (John Tuttle) debate the meaning of art and whether it has a place on restaurant walls.

“It’s about these two characters battling it out over their beliefs,” said Toni Holm, the theater’s treasurer and a longtime member of the board.

It’s also, of course, about art.

“Just as Rothko’s paintings are about the tension between blocks of color, so the play itself is about opposing views of art,” the Guardian’s Michael Billington wrote in a May review of a London revival. “The rabbinical Rothko stands for a belief in the quasi-religious, tragic, timeless nature of painting; Ken argues for the urgently contemporary and rashly embraces the emerging pop art of Lichtenstein and Warhol.”

“It’s a thinky play,” Patrick said, “so you have to kind of pay attention to what’s going on between the two characters.”

But an in-depth knowledge of art isn’t necessary, he said, adding that he learned a lot about art, and about Rothko specifically, from the script.

“You get to look into the artist’s mind a little bit, which is not something we get to do all that often,” Holm said.

What theater-goers won’t get to look at is any of Rothko’s work.

“There is no art,” Patrick said. “We just point to positions on the walls.”

Though the play gives reason to suspect that Rothko would have appreciated the absence of his work, the decision was practical rather than artistic: Theaters wishing to show images of a painting would have to pay royalties to the artist’s estate, Patrick said.

“I’ve got two very good actors who are pulling it off,” he added. “If they’re convincing, they’re going to convince the audience.”

‘Red’

What: Olympia Little Theatre opens its season with John Logan’s 2010 Tony-winning drama about artist Mark Rothko.

When: 7:25 p.m. Friday and Saturday, plus Sept. 27-29, and 1:55 p.m. Sunday plus Sept. 30

Where: Olympia Little Theatre, 1925 Miller Ave. NE, Olympia

Tickets: $11-$15 general admission, $9-$13 for students and season ticketholders

More information: 360-786-9484, olympialittletheatre.org

The rest of the season

• “Clockwork,” by Pat Cook (Oct. 26-Nov. 11): A character literally dies laughing in a wacky murder mystery about a family losing more than its share of members.
  
  
• “A Christmas Story,” by Jean Shepherd and adapted by Philip Grecian (Dec. 7-23): The adventures of Ralphie and family — familiar from the beloved 1983 film — are told anew in the style of a live radio play.
  
  
• “Men on Boats,” by Jaclyn Backhaus (Jan. 31-Feb. 10): The comedy follows the adventures of a band of 19th-century exploring men — all played by women — who set out to chart the Colorado River.
  
  
• “Bunbury,” by Tom Jacobson (March 8-24): When Bunbury (Algie’s “imaginary friend” from “The Importance of Being Earnest”) meets Rosaline (the never-seen girl Romeo loved before he met Juliet), the whole of English literature gets scrambled.
  
  
• “Driving Miss Daisy,” by Alfred Uhry (April 26-May 12): Two people from very different backgrounds — played in the 1989 film by Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman and in the 2014 remake by Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones — forge a lasting friendship in the Pulitzer-winning drama.
  
  
• “Daphne’s Dive,” by Quiara Alegría Hudes (June 7-23): The titular dive at the center of this warm family drama has been compared to TV’s “Cheers” as a place “where everybody knows your name.”
  
  

This story was originally published September 19, 2018 at 5:54 PM.