Alaska News

Arts scene: 'Red,' 'Distance,' 'Touching Fire,' 'Last of His Kind'

You call that art?

Mark Rothko was among the most controversial painters of the 20th century. In his late period, he sidestepped any semblance of line or form and created huge canvases often dedicated to a single color. Rothko is the subject of the play now running at Cyrano's, 413 D St., "Red." Elizabeth Ware directs Mark Robokoff as the artist tackling the biggest commission of his life and Jaron Carlson as his sometimes skeptical assistant. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. The show will resume May 30 after the thespians take a break for this month's Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez. Tickets at centertix.net.

We call this art

Gretchen Sagan's exhibit "Distance" is on display at the ConocoPhillips Gallery in Grant Hall at Alaska Pacific University. The artist says she's trying to illustrate themes of life situations that "portray the bare essence of an event." Carolyn Reed, best known for her illustrations of life in Dutch Harbor, has her first show in some time, called "Touching Fire," in the Leah J. Peterson Gallery next door in the Carr Gottstein Building. The show reflects Reed's depiction of "strength and mystery" found in the relationship between women and fire. Both shows will be on display through May 26.

Man in a bottle

Playwright and performer Jack Dalton veers into a dystopian future with his new play, "Last of His Kind," at 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday and May 16-19 at Out North, 3800 DeBarr Road. In this play he tells the tale of "the last indigenous person on Earth, locked in a laboratory dedicated to 'saving his people.'" Scientific, religious, governmental and other influences joust over the definition of a human in a mix of humor and "deeply disturbing content." Tickets are available at centertix.net.

Compiled by arts reporter

Mike Dunham

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