November 16 , 2025
05:00 PM - 06:30 PM
Aditya Birla Auditorium | On-Site
Viewed through the lens of his youthful new assistant, Ken, we witness the renowned painter Mark Rothko at the pinnacle of his creativity, but struggling through the creation of a series of large paintings, the now famous Seagram murals, commissioned to feature in New York’s brand-new Four Seasons Restaurant. As Ken and Rothko paint, they challenge each other to ask big questions - who makes art, for whom and why. What makes a truly great artist and how to stay pure despite fame and fortune. Set in the 1950’s, and based on a series of real events, RED takes a compelling look at the ever-changing relationship between an artist and his creations. This play is performed by Daniel Owen Dsouza and Vikram Kapadia. This play is produced by Water Lily and supported by Jester Productions.
Daniel Owen Dsouza is an actor, director and teacher originally from Mumbai but currently based in Goa where he is a faculty member at Moving Parts India. He is a graduate of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he discovered his love for classical texts. Later he attended the Duende School of Ensemble Physical Theatre, Athens, where the world of devising theatre opened up to him. His current theatrical style is a mix of LAMDA’s structure and Duende’s abandonment, a theme constantly discussed in RED, Rothko’s work being a marriage of ‘Dionysus’ excess and extravagance’ and ‘Apollo’s will to form’. His directorial credits include Peter Shaffer’s EQUUS, Roland Shimmelpfennig’s ARABIAN NIGHT, William Fin’s IN TROUSERS among other productions. He has acted in Vikram Kapadia’s THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and BLACK WITH EQUAL, Company Theatre’s NOISES OFF, Shapeshift Ensemble’s LULLABY STRANGER among other productions. Daniel also works with children, directing musicals for schools such as Jamnabhai Narsee and BD Somani.
A product of the Actors’ Studio (Bombay), Vikram Kapadia has also participated in workshops with overseas theatre stalwarts such as Peter Brook, Janet Suzman, Andrew Wade (RSC) and Steven Berkoff, as well as Indian stalwarts such as Pt. Satyadev Dubey and Pearl Padamsee. He has directed and produced many classics such as William Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET(1997), THE MERCHANT OF VENICE(2015), Girish Karnad’s TUGHLAQ(1994) and Shafat Khan’s SHOBHA YATRA (IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA) (2000). His first two-act play as a playwright, BLACK WITH EQUAL(2002), continued to be staged for the next fifteen years. His most recent work as director and playwright, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, premiered at the Prithvi Festival 2022 and is still running to full houses. Kapadia has also penned the screenplay for two TV series, Yash Raj’s KISMAT (2011) and KHOTEY SIKKEY(2011). As an actor on screen, his recent performances include KAPOOR & SONS(2016), BAAZAAR(2018), KALANK(2019), THE NIGHT MANAGER(2023), MADE IN HEAVEN (2023) and MUMBAI DIARIES(2023).
