Brightest Young Things

“All women…always appear at the side of a man,” says actress Anabel Marcano, in her introductory lines as Frida in Ricardo Halac’s play, Frida Kahlo, the Passion @ Teatro de la Luna. With that established, Halac paints a two-toned dramatic portrait of one of Mexico’s most colorful female artists; positioning Frida as a constant and inevitable counterpart to male fixture, Diego Rivera.

Frida Kahlo, the Passion recreates excerpts from the tormented artist’s life. Marcano works within the limitations of a choppy script and resurrects Frida’s sizzling personality as she eloquently captures not only the passion, but also the extreme pain and sadness that colored Frida’s paintings and defined her life. After the powerful final act, Marcano emerged to take her bow still wiping some residual tears from her eyes. Peter Pereyra steps on Rivera’s political soap box and convincingly womanizes and rationalizes the contradictions that marked his love of Frida. In real-life, the incongruities of Diego and Frida, or the “elephant and the dove,” manifested themselves just as much physically as emotionally. Frida’s small, 98-pound frame was a visual mismatch to Rivera’s portly and gargantuan physique. Much to his disadvantage, the young and dashing Pereyra more closely resembles a disheveled Brooklyn hipster onstage than the 300 pound, six-foot tall Diego Rivera.

The show is simple, but visually stunning. The vibrant set, hair, and costume designs are complemented by the Mexican music that is sprinkled throughout the play, adding flavor and texture. Cynthia Urrunaga, who plays the part of Mexican actress and femme-fatal, Maria Felix, struts onstage clad in silk and sporting bling-bling and fur. Meanwhile, Marcano’s jewelry is bulky and handmade, her hair tightly braided and pinned to her head, and her wardrobe composed of the intricately woven indigenous garb that Frida was known to wear.

However, despite the strong cast and direction, the script is often jerky, bipolar, and contrived. Frida and Diego were volatile, but Halac tries to capture and then alter an overly broad and conflicting palate of emotions with only a brief and manic exchange of lines. Though their relationship is illustrated as one of mutual emotional dependence, Halac mostly provides limited snapshots of Frida’s life that portray her at her weakest moments—the times when she was frail, betrayed, and left to either listen to the sound of Diego making love to her sister or paint a portrait and suffer the disparaging banter of her husband’s lover, the implausibly one-dimensional Maria Felix. Frida’s talent and convictions play a minor role to her relationship with Diego and her own infidelities and sexual explorations are merely broached. At one point in the play, it is pointed out that someday Frida will be known as “Frida, the painter,” rather than “Frida, wife of Diego.” However, the Passion does a better job of enforcing the latter.

Frida Kahlo, the Passion
Starring Anabel Marcano, Peter Pereyra, and Cynthia Ortiz-Urrunaga. Written by Ricardo Halac, directed by Mario Marcel and translated by David Bradley. Presented by Teatro de la Luna, Gunston Arts Center, Theater 2, Arlington, VA. In Spanish with English subtitles. Through March 1.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre