Written by the same hand that wrote Gladiator and The Aviator, Red is a play about one of the greatest artists of the 20th century and his most controversial commission ever. Producer Edward Mercieca speaks to David Schembri about working with people half his age.

Pride is the original sin. It was the pull of gravity in the fall from grace, and it has proverbially been the precursor to any fall hitherto.

After a lifetime of hard work, one thing we all fear is the younger upcoming generation taking over

Conversely, pride in oneself, in one’s work, in one’s ideas, has drawn people from the arts, sciences and politics to pull off their greatest achievements.

In whatever form it manifests itself, at its heart, pride requires the subject to be aware of oneself and of one’s surroundings.

It is this intrinsically human feeling which is at the heart of Red, an award-winning play which zooms in on the relationship between the 50-something Mark Rothko, then a relatively unknown abstract expressionist artist at a watershed moment in his career, and his (fictional) young assistant Ken.

The 2010 play, penned by John Logan, is set in the time where Rothko was commissioned to paint a set of murals for the exclusive Four Seasons restaurant in New York for €25,000, the highest fee ever offered to an abstract expressionist artist at that point in time.

The Four Seasons, a swanky restaurant in the Seagram building in New York, was feted by critics for its service, food and the décor, which included works by modern geniuses of the day such as Picasso, Miró and Pollock. The latter’s Blue Poles hung in the smaller of the two dining rooms until Rothko delivered his commission. What the foodies loved, Rothko despised.

The immigrant, who had flirtations with wealth but was mostly committed to a life of pecuniary precariousness, was naturally revolted by what the Four Seasons, a symbol of American ostentatiousness, represented.

He was determined to bite the hand that fed him and “every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room” with the most violent, oppressive art he could muster. Eventually, this tension resolved itself with the artist handing back the commission fee and keeping the artworks for himself.

Edward Mercieca, who is producing the play and playing Rothko himself, says the decision to produce the play was based purely on the strength of Logan’s script.

He is not the play’s only admirer – on its debut in 2010, Logan’s play won six Tony awards (was nominated for seven) and a Drama Desk award.

“It is a captivating journey that is superbly written about a specific moment in Rothko’s life. It is an award-winning play and is very recent, 2010. It is cutting-edge, modern theatre,” he says. He admits he has only just been introduced to Rothko’s work, but he finds it “fascinating”.

“The blocks of colours he uses are glorious and I never tire looking at them.”

Despite not being a lifelong fan of the artist, Mercieca – a veteran of the local theatre scene and close to Rothko’s age in Red – finds he can empathise with the Rothko the play portrays.

“I can identify with him, as I am sure most people who are hitting their mid-50s would. After a lifetime of hard work, one thing we all fear, secretly or openly, is the younger upcoming generation taking over and making us redundant. As we go through life, we pass through the different phases, the young, ambitious, rebellious entrants through to the experienced, knowledgeable, established workers in our field. This is what Rothko is going through, as new artists like Warhol enter the market,” the actor says.

It is somewhat ironic then – or felicitous, depending on your point of view – that the 50-something actor is acting alongside the 20-something Jean-Marc Cafà and being directed by the 20-something Simone Spiteri, who has already proven herself as an actress, writer and director (apart from having founded her own theatre company, Dù Theatre).

“Simone and Jean are such talented artists that it is an honour to work with them. Simone is a wonderful director and her direction is inspiring.

“I am convinced she will go places. I probably won’t be able to afford her in five years’ time,” he laughs.

“We actually joke about our relationship being like Rothko and Ken, the assistant, but it’s only in jest. I have too much respect for her to feel anything but great working with her.”

Apart from the wounded pride of a man’s work and ideas being confronted by someone who could be his son, there is another pride at play in Red, and that is Rothko’s pride in his work, the jealous, possessive sort of pride that wouldn’t let his creations wander out into the wild.

Reviewers of the play’s maiden run in 2010 noted that it leant more towards the artist’s relationship to his own art, rather than his rapport with his assistant, the eager learner who was becoming something of a threat.

Like many artists before him, Rothko has been sainted, misunderstood, over-interpreted and misread.

His death, self-inflicted, a pool of blood the size of his artworks, sealed off his life as a Nietzschean work of art, leaving us as viewers to try and decipher what was going on. Logan’s script treads there from the start.

What do you see? Rothko asks his pupil at the very start of the play. His answer foreshadows the artist’s end – Red.

Red is produced by FM productions and is showing at St James Cavalier, Valletta, on February 15-17; 23-25 and March 1-3.