Disarmingly, Vanessa Severo walks onstage and begins chatting with her Milwaukee Repertory Theater audience about her identification with Frida Kahlo.
Then, for most of the next 75 minutes, Severo becomes the Mexican artist and feminist icon.
“Frida … A Self Portrait” continues through May 17 at the Rep’s Herro-Franke Studio Theater. Directed by Joanie Schultz, it’s a show that Severo has performed around the country, and in Brazil, since 2019.
It’s a triumph of modest resources and stagecraft, depending on a single vivacious, convincing performer and several clotheslines with dresses, gowns and suits that Severo uses to become Kahlo or other characters in her life. “Frida” has the best big-suit moments since the Talking Heads’ movie “Stop Making Sense” – it’s a suit she uses to impersonate and interact with Kahlo’s husband, mentor and tormentor, artist Diego Rivera.
A refresher: Kahlo (1907-1954) contracted polio as a child and then, at 19, was horribly injured in a bus-streetcar accident, leading to many surgeries throughout her life and leaving her in chronic pain. As an artist she became known, and posthumously super-famous, for her many self-portraits, which often incorporated elements from her Mexican and indigenous heritage.
The artist had a complex life (including radical politics and an affair with Leon Trotsky), and there’s only so much Severo, who wrote this show, can fit into 75 minutes. Severo’s script and performance concentrate on Kahlo’s willful, stubborn, defiant spirit, which keeps her going and making art in spite of her pain.
Two factors complicate and elevate this production artistically above a simple inspiration story. First, Severo inserts several moments when Kahlo is seized with crippling, screaming pain from her injuries. We’re not permitted to think that Kahlo could escape her broken body through willpower.
Second, the actor breaks character several times to tell stories from her own life, including an account of her own physical disability. These were fascinating and I wanted more.
A person doesn’t have to know much about Kahlo to enjoy this show. But if you are familiar with her art, you’ll find extra enjoyment in Severo’s work with the clothesline, including the way she emulates the famous painting “The Two Fridas” (1939).
If you go
Milwaukee Repertory Theater performs “Frida … A Self Portrait” through May 17 at the Herro-Franke Studio Theater, 108 E. Wells St. Visit milwaukeerep.com or call (414) 224-9290. Milwaukee Rep recommends this production for people 12 years and older.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘Frida … A Self Portrait’ brings remarkable artist back to life
Reporting by Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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