New Sarasota theater company debuts with passionate tale about the power of art

John Logan’s Tony Award-winning play “Red” forces you to think about art and the creative process in ways you might not have before as it explores the work, mind and legacy of abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.

In the play, now running in an intimate space at the new Tree Fort Productions Projects company in Sarasota, Rothko is preparing a series of murals commissioned in the late 1950s by the architects of New York’s Seagram Building. The paintings are destined for the dining room of the Four Seasons restaurant.

In his studio, Rothko and his much younger assistant, Ken, work on and assess the meaning of the colors in the primarily black and red paintings and how each generation of artists challenges the norms of those who came before. Rothko and his contemporaries, including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, proudly toppled the cubists who came before them.

They argue over artistic integrity and commercialism, innovation versus selling out. An innovative artist like Rothko worries if he has lost what makes him distinctive.

Though he tells Ken that he is not going to be his friend, rabbi, father or teacher, Rothko becomes all of them as he encourages his assistant to question and challenge, to read books that will make him more civilized and connected to the world around him and history.

It’s the perfect kind of intellectual and engaging story to open a new theater company, at least one that aims to engage audiences beyond simple entertainment. Tree Fort was launched by actress, director and writer Katherine Michelle Tanner, who has directed and designed the production with energy and purpose and a sense of wonder.

There are several large paintings in the Rothko style lining the walls of a studio filled with drop cloths, buckets and brushes that are put to use by Lee Gundersheimer as Rothko and Alex Teicheira as Ken.

The play begins and ends with Rothko asking Ken, “What do you see?” while staring at one of the paintings. In between, the answer takes on new meaning, and we begin to understand how the artist views art, and the thought, care and passion that goes into his work.

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Though Gundersheimer is not physically or emotionally as intimidating as his barking, demanding and bellowing might suggest Rothko should be, he does make the artist a compelling and surprisingly sympathetic character. Even if the performance does not allow for the rollercoaster of emotions and reactions that are possible in Logan’s script, Gundresheimer draws you in. Rothko constantly questions his own state of mind and his ability. He leaves the stage for only a moment, and is there as the audience arrives, studying one of his latest works.

Over the course of their two years together, Teicheira’s Ken grows more confident as he gains great insights and reveals something of his tragic past, which unexpectedly connects the two men. Impressively, Teicheira plays the role in an almost vacant style, as though Ken were a blank canvas waiting to be filled in. In many ways, this young man is just that, and by the play’s final moments, he lets us see how his own artistic colors are taking shape.

The production design is simple yet detailed in a way that fits the theater space, where Tanner also holds classes and workshops. Short rows of comfortable chairs are placed at an angle facing the stage floor, giving audience members a mostly clear view of the action.

It's a welcoming-looking space for a production that gives you plenty to think and feel about.

‘Red’

By John Logan. Directed by Katherine Michelle Tanner. Reviewed Oct. 13 at Tree Fort Productions Projects, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Through Oct. 29. Tickets are $40. treefortproductionsprojects.com

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New Sarasota theater company makes engaging debut with ‘Red’