David Beach, an English professor at West Virginia University, will take to the stage as painter Mark Rothko in a production of “Red” at the 2015 Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Community Theater Festival March 4-7, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The biographical play, co-directed by Beach and Shenendoah Thompson, sets up a moment in Rothko’s life when the artist — notably one of the more famous post-war abstract expressionists — must search his soul to determine whether to accept a commission from the Four Seasons hotel to paint art to hang in its restaurant.

Beach is joined in the two-man production by Morgantown-area musician Shenendoah Thompson. Thompson stars as Rothko’s assistant, Ken.

The team’s production of “Red” took first place at the 2014 West Virginia Theater Festival. Thompson also won Best Actor.

Written by American playwright John Logan, “Red” takes place in the late 1950s in New York City, in Rothko’s converted gymnasium studio. The play covers a two-year time period of work with his assistant Ken.

The national production of the play, starring Oscar nominee Eddie Redmayne and Alfred Molina, won the 2010 Tony Award for best play.

The Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Community Theatre Festival is a three-day performance festival, held during the organizations’ annual convention, and features theatres representing Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi and West Virginia.

Beach is the associate coordinator for the WVU Undergraduate Writing Program. He specializes in writing across the curriculum, writing program administration, instructional technology and teaching English as a second language. He received his Ph.D. in 2008 from George Mason University.

For more information, please contact David Beach by email David.Beach@mail.wvu.edu or by phone 304-293-9711.

-WVU-

jm/02/02/15

CONTACT: Devon Copeland, Director of Marketing and Communication, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
304-293-6867, Devon.Copeland@mail.wvu.edu

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