Re-creating an intimate look at reclusive, secretive artist Mark Rothko's life and evolution as an artist was a unique assignment for Mark Landon Smith, who has directed one-man shows and a variety of theater but never a two-man performance.
"RED," a play directed by Smith, will feature Troy Schremmer and Zach Stolz as Rothko and his assistant. The 70- to 80-minute performances next week at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will portray the two-year period of Rothko's life when he created the Four Seasons murals, a set of three works that were commissioned for the Manhattan restaurant.
FAQ
‘RED’:
A Play About Mark Rothko
WHEN — 7 p.m. Wednesday & 7 p.m. Feb. 27
WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville
COST — $10 or $8 for Crystal Bridges members
INFO — 657-2335
"When Sara Segerlin approached me about producing a one-man show to go on with the [Van Gogh to Rothko] exhibit, I became fascinated with this story," Smith says. "It's about Rothko, his process as an artist and also his struggling to have the public view his art as he views it."
Getting a sneak peak at an artist's life and techniques is especially compelling when it comes to Rothko.
"Mark Rothko is such a popular character in the Abstract Expressionist scene," says Segerlin, senior museum educator, public programs, at Crystal Bridges. "I think ['RED'] will frame the 1960s art movement. People will get to hear Mark Rothko and his assistant's dialogue and questions coming out of the '60s movement, what he was struggling with in the studio.
"It's a historic time piece."
"RED" is situated at a very particular time in Rothko's life. He began work on the murals -- which featured a lot of multiforms, renditions of a few color blocks that have no landscape or subject beyond color -- in the late 1950s, on the cusp of his last decade of work and life
The Four Seasons murals were important to Rothko's career because it was the first time he had been commissioned to paint a series and the first time a work of his was created for a specific setting.
What might be most compelling to audience members, though, is the many forms the stage relationship takes.
"It's fascinating [having] just two people on stage," Smith says. "You get a really intimate look at their relationship ... and see Rothko grow as artist, you see him doubt his ability, and his assistant becomes more confident in Rothko and in his own ability as an artist."
Having such a tight production staff for the play meant that all three men were involved in the creative process and that, Smith says, makes it all the better.
"They are fantastic actors, so the process was very collaborative," he says. "It depends on everyone coming together and giving thoughts on how this thing scaled."
Though there isn't much physical action, as two-man shows tend to depend heavily on dialogue, there is one stunning centerpiece, a four-by-eight-foot canvas created on stage during the production.
Doing so should bring the artistic process to life for the audience and give them Rothko's perspective.
That's what Smith hopes the audience will take away from the performance.
"I hope they have an understanding of the process an artist goes through, because most of the time, when we're in the theater, at a movie or in a gallery, we see finished product with no appreciation for the process."
"RED" was created by Lucky Clover Studios, the production arm of Actors Casting Agency that produces film, TV and theater. It is the third work produced by LCS, following "Art/Work: The Artist's Journey," also produced at Crystal Bridges, and the film "Jan & Jann," which was featured at the Arkansas Shorts film festival in Hot Springs.
NAN What's Up on 02/20/2015