RED (Little Life Productions & Company 16), at fortyfivedownstairs - 90 minutes, with no interval

Intense. Visceral. Passionate. Angry. Confronting.

My instant reaction to a remarkable two-man show about art and what it means.

It is the late 1950s. A master painter lets loose – doesn’t hold back – in “schooling” his assistant.

In short, it is verbal diatribe of biblical proportions.

Ken (Jordan Briggs) is like the cat that got the cream, after being hired by renowned artist Mark Rothko (Dylan Smith) as his “helper”.

Ken is engaged to work tirelessly from 9 to 5, mixing paint, making frames, stretching canvases, running errands and the like.

Abstract expressionist painter Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz in Russia in 1903, moved to the US at age 10.

He is a surly, unapologetic ranter, who waylays Ken at will.

His opening parlay is to immediately question Ken about a painting Rothko is working on.

What do you see?

Answer: Red.

Do you like it?

Narcissist Rothko then proceeds to tear down whatever Ken says. He is simply dismissive of the latter, who has a troubling back story. And Rothko never enquires about Ken’s personal life.

What Rothko does do is regularly orally and, even, physically accost his protégé, himself a painter, eager to learn from “the great man”.

Rothko works only in his studio, in which all the windows are covered, saying the light is never right outdoors.

Most of the time he isn’t painting but reflecting … contemplating his work. He maintains that most painting is “thinking” and “anticipating”.

Rothko’s greatest fear is that “one day the black will swallow the red”.

Ken discovers that despite Rothko talking the talk, channelling the likes of Rembrandt, Picasso and Michaelangelo, to name but three, he has sold his soul.

For the princely sum of $35,000, Rothko has been engaged to paint a mural in a ritzy new restaurant that is about to open on Park Avenue, New York City.

As the play develops, so too does Ken’s voice. He is no longer afraid to call out Rothko.

And, after Rothko pays a visit to the upmarket eatery, matters come to a head.

Premiering in London in 2009, American playwright John Logan has written a masterful piece.

The subsequent Broadway production in 2010 won six Tony Awards, including Best Play.

I put it to you that you can’t but help be mightily impressed by what Little Life Productions & Company 16 have done with RED, under director Ian Sinclair.

Dylan Smith and Jordan Briggs put their bodies and souls into the work.

In particular, Smith’s physicality is so attractive … and, I should quickly add, deliberately repulsive. He is simply awesome … and frightening. He soars and you dare not look away for a second.

I also appreciated Briggs’ transitioning of Ken, who metaphorically grows wings in the two years he “puts up” with Smith constantly tearing into him. The juxtaposition from wide eyed newbie to “old hand” is striking.

Also noteworthy is the intimate setting that Sinclair has brought to bear in this work at the expansive fortyfivedownstairs.

The seating has been arranged so no patron is more than a few metres away from the action, such that I felt I was intimately involved in the goings on.

It is a brilliant touch.

As far as the set itself is concerned, set and costume designer Bianco Pardo has crafted an evocative beauty, which “hits you” the moment you enter the theatre.

At a distance, a cluttered large, solid long table, with a series of steel buckets at the foot. Alongside it, a record player. On the floor a drop sheet, in front of which sits a lone green wooden deck chair. In the foreground a wooden trolley with more paint paraphernalia.

Natalia Velasco Moreno’s lighting design is a real mood setter, varying from dimly lit to fully exposed, the latter catching me by surprise.

Accompanied by a few soaring, dramatic “interludes” and a couple of uplifting classical stings, RED is an exhilarating, emotional trainwreck.

It is theatre at its finest – capturing our attention from the get go and holding us in a choke hold for 90 minutes without interval.

Do not miss it.

RED is on at fortyfivedownstairs until 30^th November, 2025.