Red

John Logan’s bioplay about AbEx icon Mark Rothko falls into the usual trap of leaden research and hagiography. The playwright dares to be grandiloquent, pompous and wildly pretentious—qualities he passes on to Rothko (Alfred Molina), depicted as a bullying boor desperate to burnish his legend before suicidal impulses overwhelm him. Molina is lusty and engaging, but Eddie Redmayne’s assistant is a thin, obvious foil. The piece’s best moments are when these two just shut up and paint.—David Cote