Painted Bread

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Although this is the third time Melissa Lucero McCarl’s production of Painted Bread has been performed in the Denver area, this was the first time I had opportunity to experience it.

Karen Slack as Frida Kahlo and Jeffrey Atherton as Diego Rivera in Melissa Lucero McCarl’s original work, Painted Bread.

Even in preview at Theatre On Broadway, I was knocked out and left speechless.

It’s a marvel it has taken so long for the world to discover this amazing free spirited artist, Frida Kahlo.

Karen Slack’s powerful portrayal of Frida is awesomely mind-blowing, reaches deep into the sockets of the soul, and penetrates the aura of Theatre On Broadway, leaving the skin to crawl with “Oh-My-God” sensations.

Frida has a story to tell. Slack climbs inside the soul of the story turning it into an experience that will not easily be shaken.

With McCarl’s beautiful, concise, descriptive writing, on-target direction, and Slack’s total embracement of the character, Frida comes alive in a way she might not have been aware was even possible. Perhaps if she had known, the last entry in her diary would have stated something other than, “I hope the leaving is joyful and I hope never to return.”

Tina Anderson’s set design focuses on empty frames of various sizes. Poses from Frida’s paintings almost become eerie in comparing to what is seen on stage and reproductions of the original paintings.

As an energetic, tour guide with more bubbles than knowledge Edith Weiss deliciously slides through her tour guiding antics in an art museum with Frida’s paintings. This gives Slack opportunity to demonstrate Frida’s reactions to the Tour Guide.

Endowed with tremendous physical pain from polio, a bus accident which left her with a broken spinal column, broken collarbone, broken ribs, broken pelvis, and 11 fractures in her right foot, Frida was also endowed with a boisterous off the wall sense of humor, and a love for painting. Surrealistic in her emotional depth, she said she didn’t know she was a surrealistic painter until “Andre Breton came to Mexico and told me I was.”

McCarl lets Frida narrate her own story punctuated with significant events in her life. A technique that works well for the cast, as well as for the audience.Jeffrey Atherton takes on the persona of Diego Rivera with a dignified flamboyance. Both their affairs are well documented throughout the events of the play. Their complicated relationship plays strongly on the stage. He, Frida’s biggest fan, and she understanding he was never anyone’s husband and never could be, but he was a great comrade. They had a connection that far surpassed what could well be called traditional family values.

Jonathan Brown, Evyan Strompolos and Ricardo Salazar Vega smoothly float through a variety of characters in Frida’s life as the narratives unfold the significant and painful events. Frida admits “Life is hard, but tasty.” Where physical and emotional pain drained her, painting revitalized her. Her crude, broad sense of humor kept her spirit glued.

As McCarl used frames to tie the story together, Frida painted life as she saw and felt through portraits of herself.

Steven Tangedal designed the solicited mood setting lighting throwing Frida and the events of her life into an eerie, haunting, goose bump atmosphere. Frida’s passion for life transcends the physical and emotional pain she carried throughout her life. Slack holds nothing back. She gives it all to her audience surrounded by a cast that feeds her reactive passions.

Anderson and McCarl designed the flamboyant traditional Mexican costumes Frida was so well known for, and decked out the entire cast in tasteful, appropriate attire. This production is not only a feast for the eyes, but feeds the soul and spirit with powerful inspiration.

Painted Bread is not just a production. It is an experience that leaves one speechless for its beauty, its passion, its exuberance, its insight, its revelations, and its humor. Here is a woman who knows how to live life outside the lines, actors who know how to act outside the lines, and a playwright who painted the life in words outside the lines. Take tissues. Slack gives reason to use them.