A play of Frida Kahlo’s story
Texas A&M University-Kingsville hosted its second theatrical play of the fall semester with the performance of “Frida & Diego.” The inspiration of this play were the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Following the two’s story of love, loss and betrayal.
The play was written and directed by Dr. Patrick Faherty.
With hours of research the theater department was able to make the stage come to life. Making props that correlated to their characters and costumes that honed in to capture the different time to which they wanted to transport the audience.
“I liked the atmosphere and that they kept repeating lines to really drive the point, as well as the way the stage was set up. It was almost interactive in a way. There were many beautiful lines that were touching because of the actors chosen to play their characters,” Max Rysavy said.
Faherty and Kevinah Botello collaborated to maintain historical accuracy within the play with the goal to create an emotional and engaging performance.
“It was really a joint process. Specifically, the young lady playing Frida Kahlo, whose name is Kevinah Botello, and I wrote it together. I basically wrote the script, but she brought in a lot of research and things of that sort helping with all the structures. Although I am the playwright, I had a lot of help from her,” Faherty said.
As the play continued throughout the night sniffles were heard among the audience. With scenes impacting the audience the actors continued to show the historical story come to life. Once finished, all stood together and bowed on the stage.
“My goal was to bring them back to life in a way; to tell their story, to shed some light on things about them that people didn’t know,” Botello said.
For information about future performances follow the theater club’s instagram page @tamuk_jcc