Red
★★★★☆ Beautifully acted
Bedlam Theatre: Wed 7 – Fri 9 Oct 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Red, from EUTC at the Bedlam for three performances only, is a stunningly well-acted production that only falls just short of being indispensable.
John Logan’s 2009 play is a two-hander featuring the great abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko in dialogues with his (fictional) assistant Ken, in the period where Rothko had been commissioned to produce a series of murals for a fancy New York restaurant. This leads to allegations of hypocrisy, and to examination of colour, art and commerce.
Dylan Kaeuper and Rufus Goodman. Pic Beau Wolton.
The original production featured Alfred Molina and helped to make a star out of Eddie Redmayne. It is a talk-heavy affair, featuring much discussion on the nature of art, belonging, morality and mortality. In many ways it is a forbiddingly intense piece, but it is also poignant, clever, approachable and deeply human.
It is also extremely demanding for the cast, as it runs for over 90 minutes without a break and features a lot of dialogue. Suffice it to say that the two performers here are more than up to the task.
The stubborn, pedantic Rothko is wonderfully portrayed by Rufus Goodman. The painter is an ageing figure, worried that he is being supplanted by the Pop Artists just as his generation saw off the Cubists and Surrealists, However, any doubts that Goodman is too fresh-faced to play him soon evaporate.
excellently portrayed
There are enough hints of doubt in the wise-guy facade to make the apparently domineering character a little more approachable. The gruffness, resolute seriousness and frank cruelty are, however, still very much in evidence and excellently portrayed. And in what is a more serious point than it may first appear considering Rothko is a chainsmoker, Goodman manages to hold a cigarette convincingly, which is very rarely the case on stage nowadays.
Rufus Goodman and Dylan Kaeuper. Pic Beau Wolton.
For the time scheme of the play to work, Ken needs to develop during the action from the nebbish he is on first appearance into a more confident and forthright character. Dylan Kaeuper does this beautifully, as well as providing a believable, emotionally resonant performance throughout.
The relationship between the two characters is forcefully and energetically portrayed, and frankly it is difficult to see how the performances could have been much better.
reverentially stateful
Theodore Casimir-Lambert’s direction is sympathetic and intensely thoughtful. If there is a fault, it is that the pace is too slow, tending towards the reverentially stateful rather than the dynamic. This means that an already long interval-free play touches the 100-minute mark, and becomes something of a slog at times towards the end. The sequence when the two men prime a canvas, sloshing paint on themselves and the floor of the stage, is exhilarating, but this does point up the occasional longueur elsewhere.
Representations of Rothko’s paintings are brilliantly used, with the white-panelled set evoking Rothko’s studio very effectively (art direction is by Beau Wolton with set manager Tanya Molleson).
Dorian Toms manages the technical side of the production as well as designing the sound and light, and the result is very good; the lighting, particularly important when so much of the dialogue revolves around it, deserves particular praise.
Only the uncertain pacing stops this from being a five-star show; otherwise it is highly recommended.
Running time: One hour and 40 minutes (no interval).
Bedlam Theatre, 11B Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ.
Wednesday 7 – Friday 9 October 2026.
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Production Instagram: @redplay.eutc
Company Instagram: @eutcbedlamtheatre
Rufus Goodman. Pic Beau Wolton.
ENDS
