Red's author, John Logan, is best known for his abundant and eclectic screenplays -- The Aviator, Sweeney Todd, Star Trek: Nemesis and Gladiator, to name a few -- but Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe and an undoubtedly healthy bank account don't appear to be enough. Logan penned Red, a cri de coeur about the nature of art and artistic creation and, not surprisingly, it was a Broadway hit. Canadian Stage's current production also deserves to be a hit.

A play about painting, art, art history and the death of abstract expressionism may not seem to be immediately compelling -- though a scene where the protagonists prime a canvas is physical ballet at its finest and most violent -- Logan's skill at pacing and dialogue draws the audience in, and the end result is a riveting drama packed with ideas and theories that can't be absorbed or passed over.

Both Jim Mezon as a fictionalized Mark Rothko and David Coomber as his assistant dive into the rapid-fire dialogue and arguments with glee while still creating absolutely real characters. It was not until after the lights came up that many of the ricocheting ideas had a chance to surface in the audience's brains. Nice to be entertained and then have something to mull over.

"Not everyone wants art that rips their guts out," shouts Coomber at a pivotal moment. But everyone should enjoy this chance at art that provides laughs and drama while stealthily planting the seeds of gut-ripping in one's head.

Red runs till Sat, Dec 17 at the Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St E. canadianstage.com