Tag Archives: theater

In the Rothko Room, You Might Burst Into Tears

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Curator at Large Klaus Ottmann is author of  The Essential Mark Rothko. He’ll share his insights on the artist in a lecture tomorrow evening. Rothko is getting the spotlight in D.C. this season with John Logan’s Tony® Award winning play Red at Arena Stage. In anticipation, Klaus recently sat down with Phillips Communications Director Ann Greer to talk all things Rothko. The interview will be published in Arena Stage’s program book. Read a preview here.

Rothko Room at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Photo (c) Robert Lautman

Ann:  Why do you think Mark Rothko looms so large in the ranks of 20th century artists?

Klaus:  He was a unique artist in the way he dealt with color. He was very deeply involved in philosophy, religion, and he had an unusual ability to make his paintings communicate with the public. It was a well-known fact that people used to burst out in tears in front of his paintings, many times. I think he had a very emotional and very deep effect on the viewer – one very few artists have been able to have.

Ann:  How do you think that sort of “alchemy”–if I can use that word–how does that happen?

Klaus:  Well, of course, it didn’t happen overnight, he developed slowly into it. But, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he was deeply religious, he was very philosophical. It had to do with the fact that he very strongly believed that his paintings should communicate–that there was a dialogue going on. It has also to do with his background in theater, he always wanted to become an actor, and he believed his works to be plays, he believed his works were created to be emotional conversations with the viewer–similar to what a play can do . . .

. . . he kept thinking about the three dimensional space. That’s something I think is very important. It’s very clear to me when I sit in the Rothko Room at The Phillips Collection.

Ann:  Of course, Klaus is talking about the Rothko Room at The Phillips Collection, which was actually the first public space devoted exclusively to work by Rothko. Rothko was very involved with Duncan Phillips in planning the dimensions, the light levels, the bench.

Klaus:  There you are very close to the paintings, there are four paintings, one on each wall of the room, you are surrounded by them. You sit on the bench that Rothko put in the room, and you can feel the presence of the paintings. It’s not just an optical, visual presence, but an emotional presence. This is what he always wanted. He wanted the paint to come out and almost hover in the space in front of you and to touch you. So, he was always thinking of this three dimensional space like a stage. In a way, the Rothko Room is almost like a stage with four sides–you are in it and a part of it, and you are interacting with the other actors; you become part of that emotional play that he created. So, he never gave up that idea; the theater was always there, and it was always the framework that he used to conceptualize and make his art. To me, that’s very, very important.

Rothko on the Wall and on the Stage

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(left) Edward Gero in the 2011 Goodman Theatre production of "Red." Photo: Liz Lauren. (right) The Rothko Room at The Phillips Collection. Photo (c) Robert Lautman

We’ve been closely following the development of Arena Stage’s production of John Logan’s play, Red, after our Rothko Room served as a resource for two actors preparing for the role of painter Mark Rothko, Alfred Molina and Edward Gero, as well as a young actor hoping to land the role of Ken, the assistant, in an upcoming production. We’re delighted to hear that the National Gallery of Art has installed three paintings from the artist’s Seagram Murals, the work around which the play unfolds. Red opens in Washington, D.C., on January 20.

My First Play, Again

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Alan Paul, associate director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, guest blogs about the July 7 staged reading of John Guare’s award-winning play Six Degrees of Separation, which he’s directing for the Phillips.

(left) Wassily Kandinsky, Sketch I for Painting with White Border (Moscow), 1913, 39 1/2 x 30 7/8 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. (right) Last summer, Alan Paul directed a staged reading of Yasmina Reza's "Art" at the Phillips. This summer, he's back with "Six Degrees of Separation."

It’s hard to believe we started brainstorming a list of plays over a year ago that would complement upcoming exhibitions at the Phillips.  But, here we are just a week away, and I am hard at work on Six Degrees.  When I saw Kandinsky on the list of upcoming exhibitions a year ago, I knew we had to do a reading of Six Degrees .  As you’ll see, a double-sided Kandinsky plays a prominent role in the play.

I fell in love with the play as an undergraduate in college, and it was in fact the first play I ever directed.  Ever.  I did it at Northwestern University with a company of actors under 20 years old.  To say it was a profound experience for me would be an understatement—this play changed my life and made me realize that directing would be my chosen field.

I’m so excited to tackle this play again with some pretty significant D.C. actors. The hardest parts are Flan and Ouisa, and I’m really lucky to have two amazing actors in those roles, Rick Foucheux and Naomi Jacobson.  Rick, Naomi, and I worked together when I was an assistant director on the premiere production of Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone at Woolly Mammoth, one of the first shows I ever worked on in D.C.  So, it’s a thrill to have them in this.  And, we’ve got a mix of some of my other favorites from Larry Redmond to Julie-Ann Elliot.  There are also a slew of younger actors in the company, many of whom I met this winter when I directed Man of La Mancha at Catholic University.  It’s a great team, and I’m glad to re-visit this play with actors I really admire.

Hope to see you all in T-8 days.