A must-watch for art lovers and Rothko fans

DISCUSSING abstract art with an art lecturer and learning how to prime and stretch canvasses were some of the preparations for the production of Red, a play about the legendary abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.

"I'm sure quite a few artists will be watching the play; we wouldn't want them to think the actors are holding the brush wrong," quips Samantha Scott- Blackhall, founder of Blank Space Theatre and director of American playwright John Logan's Red, which the company is producing.

The Esplanade Theatre's curator Tamares Goh also taught the actors how to appreciate Rothko's painting techniques, and will make sure they portray artists a…