RED Reviews

[+ Lucky]

The NY Times, as I expected, loved Red. Ben Brantley calls the play "intense and exciting." He admires the acting of Alfred Molina and Ken Redmayne, pointing out that Redmayne just won the British equivalent of the Tony for his role.

 

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/theater/reviews/02red.html?hpw

 

The NY Daily News gives it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "talky" but "fascinating." Of Molina, they say that he "mesmerizes from word one." Redmayne only gets a "moves nimbly."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2010/04/02/2010-04-02_john_logans_red_starring_alfred_molina_paints_portrait_of_mark_rothko_as_neuroti.html

 

Only 2 and 1/2 stars from the NY Post, which is a compliment, actually, given their low standards of intellect. The reviewer says:

"Red" looks great, and Molina and Redmayne give superb performances. But the play never takes off because it flatters its audience's intellect instead of challenging it. Blathering about art doesn't automatically result in art -- or entertainment, for that matter.

elisabeth.vincentelli @nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/it_rouge_awakening_6ho7zf8oFXZu6OkH4SIU4H#ixzz0jx5GWDk1

 

Sounds like someone is trying to act uppity here.

 

Variety also loved the show. The reviewer, Marilyn Stasio says that "The turning point of the play, staged with operatic grandeur by Grandage, is so intense that anyone who leaves the theater should be shot." No intellectual uppitiness there!

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942521.html?categoryId=33&cs=1

 

Finally, I think, Terry Teachout at the Wall Street Journal condescendingly gives Red a few paragraphs at the end of his review of A Cocktail party. He didn't think much of it.