A magical portrait of Frida Kahlo
Viva la vida — Frida Kahlo
Written by Karen CorbettDirected by Angela Chaplin
Performed by Melita Jurisic, Carmelina de Guglielmo, and Handspan Theatre
At the Gasworks, Melbourne, until May 22
Reviewed by Bronwen Beechey
Frida Kahlo's 1939 painting The two Fridas shows two representations of the artist, one dressed in a demure, European-style lace dress, and the other in colourful, native Mexican clothing. The two figures sit hand in hand, their hearts visible and also connected. At the beginning of Viva la vida, a celebration of Kahlo's life, actors Melita Jurisic and Carmelina de Guglielmo sit together in the same clothing and pose. Around them, huge skeletal puppets dance menacingly.
This striking image sets the themes for Angela Corbett's ambitious work. Kahlo's painting reflected the duality and contradictions of her German and Mexican ancestry, and by extension the tensions between indigenous Mexican and imperialist European culture. Jurisic and Guglielmo both play Kahlo, with other figures of her life being represented by puppets.
The other theme is pain and the threat of death. Kahlo narrowly survived a bout of polio as a child, which left her with a withered leg. At 18, she was nearly killed in a bus accident which caused multiple fractures of the spine, forcing her to spend months at a time encased in a plaster corset and to undergo numerous operations. There was also emotional pain caused by her stormy relationship with muralist Diego Riviera, whom she married twice, and her inability to have children.
However Frida, instead of being a victim of her pain, found the courage to confront it through her art. She lived life to the full, numbering among her admirers Picasso and Leon Trotsky, teaching art to her students and, along with Riviera, being an active Communist.
Viva la vida portrays her life in a form that owes much to the magic realism in the work of Latin American writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabelle Allende. The role of the Handspan puppeteers in creating this dreamlike, sometimes disturbing and sometimes humorous atmosphere is one of the strongest features of the production.
While the audience may benefit from some prior knowledge of Kahlo's life, it's not essential. I knew only the barest details, and found the play fascinating and moving. It left me with the desire to find out much more about this extraordinary woman; a sign of success for any biographical play.