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ROHTKO

Łukasz Twarkowski /Anka Herbut / Dailes Theatre

— ,Theatre

Trailblazing director Łukasz Twarkowski fuses theatre, tech and live cinema to create a monumentally spectacular production that explores art and authenticity in a fast-changing world.

One of the biggest scandals in the art world lies at the heart of this ground-breaking production. In 2004, a couple bought a painting by Mark Rothko for $8.3 million. Years later, it turns out to be not by Rothko himself, but by a Chinese maths teacher from Queens who also forged works by Jackson Pollock. Can a fake painting evoke real feelings? What is real art and what is it worth? 

With pumping techno beats, two huge video screens and stunning set design, the creators of ROHTKO search for answers, with philosopher Byung-Chul Han's book Shanzhai: Deconstruction in Chinese on the value of real and fake. 

Following his sold-out production The Employees at Southbank Centre, this stunning UK premiere is brought to life by Dailes Theatre (Latvia) in collaboration with Twarkowski's close creative team and actors from Latvia, Poland and China.

Tagged with: Theatre & dance Members' Theatre Priority Booking Young Barbican More...

Running time: 3 hours and 55 minutes, including a 25-minute interval

Age guidance: 14+

The show is performed in Latvian, English, Chinese and Polish with English surtitles.

This production contains smoking, loud and occasionally sudden music, haze, strobe lighting and flashing lights.

 

Presented by the Barbican with the support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Polish Cultural Institute in London. Part of the UK/Poland Season 2025.

Production Dailes Theatre, Riga - Latvia. In co-production with JK Opole Theatre - Poland and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.

 

Photography: Artūrs Pavlovs

Creative team

  • Anka Herbut   Text & Dramaturgy
  • Łukasz Twarkowski   Director
  • Fabien Lédé   Stage Designer
  • Svenja Gassen   Costume Designer
  • Lubomir Grzelak   Music Designer
  • Jakub Lech   Video Artist
  • Eugenijus Sabaliauskas   Lighting Designer
  • Pawel Sakowicz   Choreographer
  • Diāna Kaijaka   Assistant Director
  • Adam Zduńczyk   Assistant Director
  • Mārtiņš Gūtmanis   Assistant Director
  • Linda Šterna   Assistant Dramaturg
  • Bastian Stein   Assistant Costume Designer
  • Adam Zduńczyk   Assistant Video Artist
  • Arturs Gruzdiņš   Camera operator
  • Jonatāns Goba   Camera operator
  • Uldis Grass   AV technician
  • Kristaps Taburs   AV technician
  • Gustavs Smalkais-Francis   AV technician
  • Didzis Herberts Cielava   Sound engineer
  • Jana Jaunbērziņa   Video engineer
  • Klāvs Skrastiņš   Video engineer
  • Annika Auziņa   Props manager
  • Gunta Sakša   Props manager
  • Edgars Brākmanis   Light engineer
  • Māra Vaļikova   Light engineer
  • Mārtiņš Vigups   Technical manager
  • Dāvis Rābants   Stage worker
  • Rūdolfs Štrāls   Stage worker
  • Artis Andersens   Stage Worker
  • Pāvels Busigins   Stage Worker
  • Ginta Puišele-Anuševica     Make-up
  • Vivita Baltrune   Wardrobe
  • Ēriks Saksons   Surtitles operator
  • Iveta Boša   Stage manager
  • Ginta Tropa   Producer
  • Vidas Bizunevicius   International production and distribution
  • Ingmāra Balode   Translator of the script into Latvian
  • Ingmāra Balode, Anka Herbut, Linda Šterna   Translators of the script into English
  • Diāna Kaijaka, Elza Marta Ruža   Translators at the rehearsals

Cast

  • Juris Bartkevičs  
  • Kaspars Dumburs  
  • Yan Huang  
  • Andrzej Jakubczyk  
  • Rēzija Kalniņa  
  • Ilze Ķuzule-Skrastiņa   (originally performed by Ērika Eglija-Grāvele)
  • Katarzyna Osipuk  
  • Artūrs Skrastiņš  
  • Mārtiņš Upenieks  
  • Vita Vārpiņa  
  • Toms Veličko  
  • Xiaochen Wang  

Ticket prices

Standard
From £25 *
* Excludes £4 booking fee

Booking fees

£4 booking fee per online/phone transaction. 

No fee when tickets are booked in person.

Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.

ROTHKO, ROTKHO or ROHTKO?

Spelling mistake or intentional statement? The misspellings ROHTKO and ROTKHO play into the production’s central theme: the relationship between the fake and the original, and how famous brands are often imitated with counterfeit names such as Adibas or Dolce & Banana. It draws on Graham Rawlinson’s hypothesis — known as the typoglycaemia effect — which suggests that the human brain can still read text as long as the first and last letters of each word remain in place. So, what do you think: is a ROTKHO or a ROHTKO really any different — or less valuable — than a ROTHKO?

Reviews

  • ‘Such a profusion of everything (colours, sounds, images, dialogue)... One is swept up in the whirlwind that unfolds.‘
    Joëlle Gayot, Le Monde (France)
  • ‘Łukasz Twarkowski questions the value of authenticity in art with a spectacular production, rich in visual and sound illusions.‘
    Anne Diatkine, Libération (France)
  • ‘A total work of theatre within a grand multimedia setup, exploring the art market and the value of art through the lens of capitalism and digital works.‘
    Callysta Croizer, Les Echos (France)
  • ‘ Rohtko is a powerful, unsettling production that compels us to rethink our relationship with art.‘
    Marie-José Sirach, L’Humanité (France)

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