What does Red do on Thursday?

Description of the Play

The colours have been mixed, the brushes are ready.
The painter stands behind the transparent canvas, ready to go.

What shall we begin with?
Perhaps a small, red spot?
And with a question. A question that only children or painters ask:
"What does red do on Thursday?"
The "hero" has been found, their curiosity has been aroused.
And the answer will be no ordinary answer...

The painting begins!
A small red spot is painted on the canvas. And is given a home. A space is created, out of protective, solid shapes; very angular, very orderly, stone by stone. Until it gets too confined in there for the little spot of red.

The painter sets it free. The little red spot can get out "into the open", run off energy like a child, and lose a game with yellow dots, which become flying balls, change into birds, into clouds.
And the little red spot has unexpectedly turned into a ladybird.

After such a lively game, it now has the concentration for a dreamlike journey: the painter picks up a long, carefully drawn winding line, and develops it into a magic kingdom full of fairytale-like palaces, plants and animals. Then, the little red spot discovers it’s a pearl decorating a fountain.

As the only spot of colour on a graphic landscape, red now starts longing for some company.
The painter is happy to help and – like a child trying out its new paint box – paints colour over colour enthusiastically all over the canvas wherever there’s still space, revelling in the amplitude. The colours inhabit the space, form leaves, mushrooms, snails...
And the little red spot blossoms into a flower.

The painting is actually full now. Full with beautiful small beings. Is it finished now?
No, little red spot has another wish now: It would like to meet "big".
And now big shapes emerge. Shapes that need a lot of space and push the rest into the background.
Are they allowed to do that? Well, they really are very beautiful.
They become sheltering trees and lush meadows. But now there’s really no room left on the picture!
Now it’s definitely finished!

But where has the little red spot got to? Hey! It’s changed into a fish!
What was it thinking? There’s not even any water!
But the painter is already climbing up the ladder and painting three thick rain clouds at the top of the picture. Clouds so thick that the paint drips...

They drip down like thick raindrops. Grey puddles form
between the trees. Soon the whole painting will be wet. What about the beautiful painting! Will it all run together?

Luckily, finally the sun breaks out, big and bright. Its rays revive the watery landscape.
The painting is ready.

And the little red spot?
What did it do on Thursday?
Well, it was busy having fun.

And the painting? It transformed itself again and again. And introduced the audience to a way of painting that does not aim for any particular, pre-defined, "beautiful” or "right” result from the outset. Painting is a process which, from the very first brush stroke, is full of surprises and where the reward lies in the activity itself.

Photos: Jutta Missbach, Helmut Pogerth