RedBird Theater Company presents

RED by John Logan

Performed in approximately 90 minutes with no intermission

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Bar service by Drinkz by Design will be offered in the lobby

before and after the performance.

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Join us in the lobby after the Friday performances on March 3 and 10

for live music by The Drowning Lovers.

SETTING

Mark Rothko's studio, 222 Bowery, New York City. 1958-1960

CAST

Trevon Carr as Ken

Derrick Ivey as Mark Rothko

PRODUCTION TEAM

JJ Bauer - Stage Manager / Dramaturg

Chuck Catotti - Lighting Designer

Sonya Drum - Scenic Designer / Properties Designer

Sean Haggerty - Sound Engineer

Griffin Matthews - Master Electrician

Sarah Roberts - Sound Designer

Jeff Storer - Director

Erin M. West - Costume Designer

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All jazz recordings in RED are performed by The John Brown Quintet on the album Terms Of Art (A Tribute To Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers • Vol I). 

A NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG

What does it mean to make public art?

Starting with the Seagram commission, Mark Rothko would grapple with this question in his work for the rest of his career. By 1958, Rothko was a successful painter, sought after by collectors and regularly exhibited in museums and galleries of modern art. But the public who saw his work in those spaces was mostly insular and self-selecting and often experienced each painting as an individual viewer before a medium-sized singular object produced on an easel. For the Seagram Building’s Four Seasons Restaurant, however, he would be producing an entire room full of mural-sized work that would be seen and experienced by groups of people dining together whose primary purpose was not in that moment to seek out “Art.” So what role, exactly, could his art play in such an environment?

One of the places Rothko looked to find an answer to this question was the theater. Unlike easel painting, theater is a communal, temporal, and spatial experience that engages audiences emotionally as well as intellectually. The best theater produces catharsis in an audience, a cleansing release from everyday cares that leads to renewal and enlightenment. For the ambitious Rothko, how could paint on canvas be activated to provoke such engagement from its audience? How could it overcome the distractions of smell, taste, and sound of dining, conversation between diners, and the coming and going of staff, to connect with and impress itself deeply on the minds and hearts of everyone in the room? 

Two years later, Rothko rejected the commission, returned the financial advance, and kept the paintings. Many, including his son Christopher, consider his abrupt retreat a kind of failure to understand the mismatch between the aspiration to generate an abiding work and the demands of commerce. But, over the next decade, Rothko would complete two more significant mural commissions and commit to one more just before his death from suicide in 1970. He donated the bulk of the finished Seagram murals to the Tate Gallery in London. Hung in their own room according to Rothko’s own specifications, so that their “inner light” shines through, the works speak powerfully, a modern chorus calling a responsive audience.

SPECIAL THANKS

Aggregate Theater Company, Dennis Berfield, Irene Bowditch, Chris Droessler, Ken and Judy Drum, Duke Venue and Production Management, Durham Bottling Company, Durham Magazine, Coats Guiles, Ken Huth @HuthPhoto, Edward Hunt, David Jensen, Austin Powers, Raleigh Little Theater, The Regulator Bookshop, Brad Schnurr, Chris Shuptrine, Doug Storer, University Theatre at NCSU, Lance Waycaster

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RED is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection (www.dramatists.com). The play was originally produced by the Donmar Warehouse (Michael Grandage, Artistic Director; James Bierman, Executive Producer) in London, England, opening on December 8, 2009.  The Donmar Warehouse production was subsequently produced at the John Golden Theatre on Broadway by Arielle Tepper Madover, Stepanie P. McClelland, Matthew Byam Shaw, Neal Street Productions, Fox Theatricals, Ruth Hendel/Barbara Whitman, Philip Hagemann/Murray Rosenthal, and The Donmar Warehouse, opening on April 1, 2010.

BIOGRAPHIES

JJ Bauer (Stage Manager / Dramaturg) 

JJ is delighted to be working again with longtime friends at RedBird Theater Company. She has been a stage manager, props manager, costume designer, set designer and completely unwilling actor for various area theater companies, including Deep Dish Theater, Ghost and Spice Productions, NC State Theatrefest, The Open Door Theatre, Street Signs Center for Literature and Performance, and Wordshed Productions.

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John V. Brown, Jr. (Jazz Musician)

Bassist, composer, educator and actor John Brown is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and currently resides in Durham, NC. He is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as Director of the Jazz Program and Associate Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University, and has served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and Guilford College (NC). Brown joined Duke University’s music department as an adjunct instructor in 2001, becoming assistant professor of the practice of music and director of the Duke Jazz Program in 2003. That same year he founded Jazz @ the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, a weekly live jazz jam session open to campus and community, now driven by student leadership in the Duke University Union. John Brown began his tenure as Duke’s first full-time Vice Provost for the Arts on July 1, 2020.

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Trevon Carr (Actor - Ken)

Trevon makes his debut with RedBird Theater Company as Ken. He has most recently been seen in WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT... (Justice Theater Project), ASSASSINS (N.C. State), and BONNIE AND CLYDE (NRACT). Trevon works with Theatre Delta taking interactive theater from Michigan to Massachusetts. In addition to theater, Trevon has acted in local films and commercials.

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Chuck Catotti (Lighting Designer)

Chuck has worked in theater in the Triangle area for over thirty years.  Recent designs include LIFE SUCKS, THE OPEN HOUSE, MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY at Manbites Dog Theater, HAPPY DAYS at Playmakers Rep, MACCOUNTANT with Little Green Pig, VENUS IN FUR at Common Ground, and SHE KILLS MONSTERS, VINEGAR TOM, UNCLE VANYA, and RAGTIME at Duke University.  He earned his MFA in Theater from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

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Sonya Drum (Scenic Designer / Properties Designer)

Sonya is a theatrical designer, visual artist, and arts educator based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has designed scenery in the Triangle area for the past 22 years. Sonya is grateful for the opportunity to design within RedBird’s inaugural season and to collaborate with longtime theater family and friends. Sonya had the pleasure of designing scenery for 11 productions at Durham’s renowned Manbites Dog Theater where she worked with some of her favorite collaborators. She is also a founding member of Durham’s Bulldog Ensemble Theater. Selected Durham scenic design credits include: for Duke Department of Theater Studies, GULAG FOLLIES, UNCLE VANYA, THE PERFECT DETONATOR, VINEGAR TOM, BAD ROADS, AS YOU LIKE IT, FEFU AND HER FRIENDS, GOLEM and SHE KILLS MONSTERS; for Bulldog Ensemble Theater, IN A WORD and ORANGE LIGHT. Sonya also works as a Magnet Visual Arts Specialist for the Wake County Public School System where she is beginning her 23rd school year fostering the gifts and talents of young artists and designers.

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Sean Haggerty (Sound Engineer)

Sean is a Durham based sound designer. His passion is in sound design but he has worked in many fields in the live entertainment industry over the years. When not working in a theater he can be found outdoors with his dog Hogan or woodworking.

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Derrick Ivey (Actor - Mark Rothko)

Derrick has been a mainstay of regional theater for more than thirty years. He has worked as actor, director, choreographer, designer, producer, administrator, and educator in collaborations with dozens of North Carolina theater companies.  Regional acting credits include:  WAKEY, WAKEY, …DEATH OF WALT DISNEY, MR. BURNS, BEST OF ENEMIES, NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM, THE GOAT, GOD'S EAR, RABBIT HOLE, NIXON’S NIXON (Manbites Dog Theater Company);  AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, THE CAKE, LOVE ALONE (Playmakers Repertory Company); INTO THE BREECHES, GOD OF CARNAGE (Theatre Raleigh); CABARET, JANE EYRE, KING LEAR (William Peace University Theater), STONES IN HIS POCKETS (Temple Theater), MOTHER COURAGE, CASCADE (Streetsigns), ORSON’S SHADOW, HOW I GOT THAT STORY (DeepDish Theater).

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John Logan (Playwright)

John Logan received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards for his play RED. Other plays include PETER AND ALICE, I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS, and NEVER THE SINNER. As a screenwriter, Logan has been three-times nominated for the Oscar, and has received Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA, Edgar and PEN Center awards. His films include SKYFALL, SPECTRE, HUGO, THE AVIATOR, GLADIATOR, RANGO, GENIUS, SWEENY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, THE LAST SAMURAI and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY. He also created PENNY DREADFUL for Showtime.

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Griffin Matthews (Master Electrician) 

Griffin is a live events and creative professional based in Raleigh, NC. He focuses on live event technology and has worked in event production for several venues across North Carolina. With experience in audio engineering, lighting design, and theatrical rigging, Griffin has worked as a technician for NC State University Theatre, Duke Theatre Studies, Justice Theatre Project, and more. Griffin now works in broadcast television and is a freelance designer/technician. He is thrilled to be part of RedBird’s inaugural season.

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Sarah Roberts (Sound Designer)

Sarah is a musician and artist based in Chapel Hill, NC. She performs and records with her band, Pink Birds, Ladies Gun Club, and as a solo artist. She has designed sound for theatre productions at Duke University, Gulfshore Playhouse, Childsplay, Phoenix Theatre, Stray Cat Theatre Company, and Partners That Heal. Sarah has composed and scored the films WINDOW CHALK (Ronomet Films) and DWELL TIME (Citizen Skull Productions) which premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2014. Sarah has worked as an actor with HBO Films, BBC, San Jose Rep, Theatreworks, Arizona Theatre Company, Phoenix Theatre, Alliance Theatre, and Southwest Shakespeare. She received her B.F.A. in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University. She currently lives in Chapel Hill with her husband, two kids, assorted animals, and enjoys creating beadwork jewelry for her online store Flying Goat Studios. 

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Jeff Storer (Director)

Jeff  is co-founder and artistic director of Manbites Dog Theater, a professional company founded in 1986 dedicated to world and regional premieres of contemporary work. He is co-author of INDECENT MATERIALS, which opened the 1990 season at Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival, and has co-authored TUNE FOR TOMMY, HOTLINE and an adaptation of Allan Gurganus’ PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS. He has directed over 150 full length works since 1975 in New York City; Portland, Oregon; Boston; Winter Park, Florida; and Dallas. His directing credits include: the world premiere of Romulus Linney's SILVER RIVER (at Manbites Dog, Profile Theater in Portland and as the keynote event at the Sewanee Writer's Conference), MR. BURNS: A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY, BROWNSVILLE SONG (B-SIDE FOR TRAY), THE LARAMIE PROJECT, GOD'S EAR, SPRING AWAKENING, THE RECEPTIONIST, SONNETS FOR AN OLD CENTURY, NEIGHBORHOOD 3, RECKLESS, COMEDY OF ERRORS, ROMEO AND JULIET, BUCKNAKED: A LOVE STORY, THE NORMAL HEART, THE DAY ROOM, WILD HONEY, THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP, THIS IS OUR YOUTH, AT THE VANISHING POINT, TOMORROWLAND, DARK RIDE, 7 BLOWJOBS, CLOUD TECHTONICS, THE ILLUSION, THE DARKER FACE OF THE EARTH, CAROUSEL, CLOUD 9, RAGTIME, UNCLE VANYA, ANGELS IN AMERICA and he co-authored and co-directed the stage and video versions of the world premiere, WALKING MIRACLES. In March 1997, Manbites Dog purchased a 6,500 square foot building on Foster Street near downtown Durham to serve as a permanent home space for the company. The building opened to the public in fall 1998, where it continued until 2018, when the building was sold and the company transitioned to being a support organization for Triangle-area theater artists and companies. Since then the Manbites Dog Theater Fund has made project grants, awards and institutional sustaining grants of over $250,000 to area artists and companies. As a part of Duke’s Department of Theater Studies, Jeff directed the workshop production of Jose Rivera’s REFERENCES TO SALVADOR DALI MAKE ME HOT and the world premiere of Romulus Linney’s OSCAR OVER HERE. He was associate director of theater at Duke University from 1982 to 1987 and associate professor of theater at Rollins College from 1987 to 1992. He returned to Duke in 1993. He chaired the Department of Theater Studies from 2007 to ‘09 and 2015 to ‘18.  He is a full professor of the practice in the Department of Theater Studies.

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Erin M. West (Costume Designer)

Erin has worked as a costume designer, technician, costume shop manager and wardrobe manager for regional and university theatres, and has extensive experience designing, patterning, and building costumes for theatre and dance. Erin holds an MFA in Costume Design from The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a BA in Studio Art from James Madison University. Currently serving as the Costume Shop Manager for Duke University, she has worked with Washington & Lee University, James Madison University, Westminster College, American Dance Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company, Tuacahn Center for the Arts, The Virginia Repertory Dance Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and The American Shakespeare Center, among others.