Based on real life events, director Łukasz Twarkowski delves deeply into boundary-pushing in ROHTKO production. Highlighting the crucial fundamental strategies from Mark Rothko’s legacy. Various moments details collectibles vs investors, making their fortune in their world polluted with schemes, fraud & con-artists within the financial market, decline of intrinsic value & the risks at play. As well as the differentiation between real vs fake when depicting original art.

As exacerbated in the production: There are 4 stages in the game. Step 1: The artist, 2. The dealer, 3. The museums & 4. The collector. ROHTKO explores market value, legitimacy of the seller, Appraisals, legal disputes & considerations in an intensely compelling way to reveal what deemed a nightmare for ROHTKO , played by Juris Bartkevičs, and his wife, Mell, played by Vita Vārpina.

Each cast member creatively, expressively & artistically created a sensation of depth, culture, emotion and expression. From synchronised contemporary dance movements, embodying internalised pain, passion, thrill & disharmony.

The multimedia incorporated was phenomenally cinematic & . The split screen on stage presented live recordings of each close-up, long-shot, angle & raw takes captured by the two camera-men on stage in the midst of the action-packed dimensions, amongst the actors & dramatic scene changes, set designs & transitions, which all worked brilliantly, on the large centre stage.

The techno music was stimulating & felt like blazing flames running through your veins. Each motion of sound was profound & channelled the energy, empowerment, & creed of the configuration of the sound wave frequencies. Interwoven effects of anticipation, non-mitigation, & preparation for further intoxication was heartfelt, due to the audible intensity & uproar repetitive beats, combined with the flashing lighting simultaneously.

This production is cinematically enthralled. You get to experience deconstructions of the concepts inauthentic & fake, attributes to the value of real art, all whilst utilising the power of video to narrate authenticity and creation.

Highly recommended!

ROHTKO directed by Łukasz Twarkowski. UK premiere at the Barbican Theatre, Thu 2 – Sun 5 Oct 2025.