Review: ROHTKO (Barbican Theatre)

Review by Stephen Gilchrist

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lukasz Twarkovski’s four-hour production of ROHTKO by the Dailes Theatre of Latvia, based in Riga, is either a work of theatrical brilliance or, as some would argue, not a piece of theatre at all. I’m going to opt for the former, and I'll explain why.

First you have to know something about Mark Rothko was an American abstract painter, best known for his colour field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of colour, which he produced from 1949 to 1970. He was from a Latvian Jewish family which relocated to New York City in 1913, escaping the antisemitism of the Tsarist regime which then governed Latvia. Rothko was also the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the Art world, decades after his suicide in 1970. In 2004 a couple bought a painting (allegedly) by Rothko for $8.3 million. Years later the painting entitled ‘Untitled’ was revealed to have been painted by an immigrant Chinese maths teacher from Queens.

The picture was purchased by the now defunct Knoedler Gallery in New York City of which Ann Freedman was a director. She claimed to have purchased the forgery in ignorance of its true provenance. This episode, together with a scathing take down of the darling-of-the-day in the art world, namely the hokum of NFTs, (non-fungible tokens) provides a platform for an examination of the nature of art, its value, and its relationship with the viewer. For your information, NFTs purportedly provide purchasers who have deep crypto currency pockets, with ownership of a unique digital version of original works of art. Go figure!

On any view, ROHTKO is an extraordinary work. Probably one of the most stunning I have seen in any theatre. Yet you could be forgiven for suggesting that this is not a true theatrical experience at all,  but a multi media event, set on a stage, certainly, but with its narrative very largely told on a giant screen, with cinema quality sound, and filmic in the direction, the actors being videoed live in the set, below the screen, visible, but in shadow.

The acting is naturalistic, as befits the cinematic mode. The company of twelve are superb. That is to say their performances, as revealed in glorious close ups on the screen, are superb, particularly so Juris Bartkevičs as Rothko. His anger at having to accept a commission to provide large canvasses for the famous Four Seasons restaurants, where people are too busy eating to understand or look at his work is a highlight. Likewise, a scene towards the end of his life, in which, suffering from a variety of maladies, he complains to his long-suffering wife (an excellent Vita Varpina) that he can no longer paint in colours. The scene itself is presented in monochrome. Also excellent is Andrzej Jakubczyk as a rather sad immigrant actor having to sleep in the park but wanting to be cast as Rothko in a movie.

The text by Anka Herbut is played in a variety of languages, Russian, Latvian, Polish and English, with English surtitles as necessary. Its pretension as serious commentary is lightened with wit and irony. Even when the lines are spoken other than in English, the actors draw every drop of meaning and humour. The action of the play takes place between the 1950s and 2025 with characters from different time periods appearing in scenes together, conversations decades apart, criss-crossing with each other, the play concentrates on the mechanism of the art market over recent decades.

There is the Artist (Rothko) unwilling to compromise their integrity for money. There is the Dealer (Ann Freedman, played by Latvian actress Rēzija Kalniņa), the facilitator of a sale. Then there is the Museum (Jack Smith, played Mārtiņš Upenieks) because by exhibiting an Artist’s works they are objectively viewed as valuable, and there is finally the Buyer (Domenico de Sole, played by Artūrs Skrastiņš) who may or may not be purchasing an original work. And if it proves a fake, is it any less a work of beauty or value?

The scenic design by Fabien Lédé (a French visual artist) is probably one of the finest and most extraordinary I have had the privilege of seeing in many a year, with much, but not all, the action taking place in Mr Chow, a famous Chinese restaurant in NYC which was popular with the art crowd. The restaurant has been solidly recreated in detail, kitchen and all. It moves, splits, comes together again rotates, and revolves on the vast Barbican stage.  

I counted a stage crew of 20 who were constantly moving the set, roaming the stage like a skulking pack of wolves, with cameramen videoing the actors, downstage, upstage, within the set, behind the set, and all seamlessly done. The stage crew quite rightly took a bow at the end and were met, as was the cast, with a standing ovation. The lighting, often drowning the set in ‘Rothko Red’ adds to the mood of the piece. Despite the cinematic techniques that are employed, and which are integral to the show there are plenty of theatrical effects to enjoy. The action is continuously underscored by music by Lubamir Grzelak: techno sometimes for effect, lounge music for scenes in the Chinese restaurant, but never obtrusively or inappropriately

I must be honest. The show is too long at just under four hours, and sags a little after the three-hour mark, though it quickly picks up towards the finale and in its length, it could also be said to be overindulgent. It is exhausting yet also hypnotic throughout almost its entire length. Yet it is a remarkable work which has style, significance, and purpose, and yes, brilliance whether the whole enterprise is in reality, a joke on the audience or not. 

ROHTKO plays a limited season at the Barbican Theatre until October 5th

For tickets and information visit https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/lukasz-twarkowski-dailes-theatre-anka-herbut-rohtko

Photos by Anūrs Pavlovs