John Logan made a name for himself as a screenwriter on big Hollywood films - Gladiator, Star Trek: Nemesis and the forthcoming James Bond. But he got his start writing plays here in Chicago. So, the American premiere of his play Red at the Goodman Theatre was a return to his writerly roots.

The two-man play follows artist Mark Rothko and his young assistant as Rothko struggles over a huge commission that could seal or sully his career. Eight Forty-Eight’s Alison Cuddy sat down with Logan last week, and of course, asked him to begin by talking about his own struggles as a student at Northwestern University.

Red opens on Saturday and runs through Oct. 23 at the Goodman Theatre.

Music Button: The Funk Ark, “Carretera Libre”, from the album From the Rooftops, (ESL)