Many have seen her picture. Many have heard her name, but not a lot of people are familiar with the life and history of legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

At the Wilkerson Theater in midtown- Sacramento, the California Stage Company is performing the play “Frida Kahlo.” Sacramento State senior Diana Tercero is starring as Kahlo in the production. The play is directed by Manuel Pickett, professor of theater at Sac State, in association with Teatro Espejo, and produced by Ray Tater.

Tercero, who grew up learning about Kahlo, said her main reason for trying out for Kahlo’s part was because of her parents.

“It would make my parents so proud if they knew I played a Mexican-hero,” she said.

Tercero has noticed a lot of people carrying bags or wearing T-shirts with Kahlo’s picture. She said people know Kahlo as an icon, but they don’t know the real person. She wants people to understand who Kahlo was, her life and the reasons behind her art.

“I want people to leave the show and think, ‘Wow, she’s an amazing person.”

Tater got a hold of the Kahlo script due to its popularity and spoke with Pickett last year about putting on the play.

Tater said the play is about the life of Kahlo and her inner life of pain. Kahlo had physical pain when she suffered serious injuries after a bus accident. She also contracted polio as a young child. Her marriage to famous painter Diego Rivera, who Tater said was a womanizer, caused her to go through a lot of pain as well.

Tater noted that this play gets down to the real Kahlo and focuses on life experiences that influenced her work.

“(She was) determined to paint and determined to try to have a relationship with her husband – a good one,” he said.

The play is being performed in English and Spanish.

Pickett said he wanted to have the play in Spanish because he thinks it is important to reach out to the Spanish-speaking and bilingual communities. He realized he wanted the play performed in Spanish when he was at an immigration march in Sacramento.

“There were also the people marching for immigration rights and when I saw over 20,000 people marching down L Street and probably most of them didn’t speak English, I realized the potential of the audience that we could have,” Pickett said. “In addition to that, many people throughout my career in theater have asked me to do plays in Spanish, so that pretty much motivated me.”

The actors and actresses performing the English version are also playing the same roles for the Spanish version. Pickett said it has been very difficult because it’s as if they are putting on two different plays.

“The way you approach the words is very different,” he said. “You almost have to transform into an entirely different character,” Pickett said.

Tercero said learning two parts has been really tough.

“I grew up speaking English at school, so I completely forgot the Spanish,” Tercero said. “I know the English script so well. I know I can’t translate English word for word in Spanish. It’s been really tough.”

Tater has noticed that Kahlo herself has become larger than life.

“When you walk into a store and see buttons and pins and pictures of Frida Kahlo, or go into an artist’s studio and see the Madonna that was Frida Kahlo, you know there’s something about her which is almost saint-like,” Tater said. “It has an effect on people. Some people – they couldn’t even tell you what kind of things she’s painted, but they know Frida Kahlo.”

Pickett thinks Kahlo is an example of one of the stronger female painters featured throughout Mexican history. He said this play is part a of the Mexican culture and heritage.

“Part of our culture goes beyond dancing and the singing,” he said. “Part of our culture is also being able to appreciate those heroes and those models that we have in our past that help shape our future.”

Pickett thinks this play is important to see because watching it live is a lot more different than watching it at a movie theater. Live theater gives the audience the chance to experience the senses.

“People love her paintings. People have seen her visually. People have seen a movie about her, but they’ve never really been to see her breathe or to see her walk across the stage, or to see her pain or her anguish,” Pickett said. “This is live theater and what you see are actual emotions on stage.”

Corin Ramos, senior psychology major, has seen the English version of the play and is planning to see the Spanish version with her organization M.E.Ch.A., a group that promotes political and culture awareness to “LA Raza,” a group of Spanish-speakers in America. Ramos thought the play was powerful and intense because of its raw emotions.

“You could feel the emotion at times,” she said.

Ramos said many people think that if Kahlo didn’t have such a difficult life, her art wouldn’t be as successful. The play, however, shows how much Kahlo struggled because of her famous art.

“She actually just wanted to have a normal life. She just wanted to be married and have kids and not have operations all the time. She would rather have that than all of the fame.”

The performance will be at the Wilkerson Theater in midtown Sacramento on 1723 25th St., on the corner of R Street.

For more information visit: www.calstage.org.

Christina Li can be reached at [email protected]