A Conversation with Writer/Director/Actress Odalys Nanin, "Frida - Stroke of Passion: The Immersive Experience," Casa 0101 Theater, by James Scarborough

Odalys Nanin's reimagined "Frida - Stroke of Passion" transforms the traditional theatrical experience into a sensory journey that collapses the boundary between audience and art. This immersive staging resurrects Kahlo’s final days with haunting immediacy. The production doesn’t sanitize Kahlo's complex reality: her physical agony, her sexual fluidity, and her defiance of social conventions emerge unvarnished.

The narrative architecture balances historical accuracy with artistic interpretation, particularly in exploring the mysterious circumstances surrounding Kahlo's death. Nanin's portrayal of Frida avoids the trap of caricature that often befalls productions about iconic figures. She delivers instead a woman of flesh and contradiction, simultaneously vulnerable and indomitable.

Most striking is how the production's immersive elements — Marco de Leon's set design and Anthony Storniolo's environmental flourishes — serve as more than theatrical gimmickry. When Kahlo's paintings of vegetation and animals "come alive," we're witnessing the externalization of her psychological state. This visual strategy complements the way reality and fantasy blended in Kahlo's perception during her final days.

The parade of lovers visiting Frida function as a testament to her insatiable hunger for connection despite her deteriorating body. The production doesn't shy away from the fascinating complexity of Frida and Diego's relationship, a partnership that defies conventional definitions of fidelity while maintaining profound emotional attachment.

In its brief 80 minutes, this production captures the essence of an artist who transformed her suffering into a radical act of creation.

Below follows an email conversation with Odalys Nanin.

JS: This production returns to Casa 0101 for a limited engagement. How has "Frida - Stroke of Passion" evolved since its original 2017 staging to become this immersive experience? What inspired you to reimagine it in this format?

ON: The production of 2017 had 10 actors and projections of her paintings.  When I remounted it again in 2019 & 2020, I created a second screen where the outdoor patio of Frida’s Casa Azul would transition from day to night to rain etc.  My play explores the last week of Frida’s life from her birthday July 6, 1954, to her death July 13, 1954.  During this time, she was drinking two bottles of whisky per day, receiving injections of Demerol for her pain and sleeping pills at night.  She was living between a dream and wakefulness.  When you are under the effect of alcohol and drugs the world around is perceived differently.  It’s a heightened state of mind were everything around her comes alive in front of her.  This is why I decided to create an immersive show, what the audience sees is what Frida state of mind is seeing around her.  Certain things in her paintings are animated like the heart beats in the Two Fridas and the red blood drips on her white dress.  The dead bird on her necklace comes alive and flies away.  The vegetation and flowers are animated, and the butterflies come alive. There is no set, just furniture pieces.  The bed center stage, the huge easel stage left and the bar with a stool stage right.  Behind her is a huge cyclorama screen where everything that is projected is alive.

JS: The press release mentions that Frida's paintings of vegetation and animals come alive in this production. Elaborate on how Marco de Leon's set design and Anthony Storniolo's immersive design work together to create this effect? What challenges did you face.

ON: Since there is no set Marco de Leon painted large green leaves of different hues on the stage.  The bar is a piece from a trunk of a tree, and there are green branches wrapped around the easel and the bed board.  Anthony and me worked together on animating certain things in each painting.  He also created a digital animation of Trotsky’s ghost and of Little Diego the son that Frida never had comes alive.

JS: Your production focuses on the last week of Frida's life, beginning with her 47th birthday and ending with her death. What drew you to this particular period? How do you navigate the balance between historical accuracy and dramatic interpretation in light of the "mysterious circumstances" surrounding her death?

ON: I have written ten plays to date and my friends would always ask me to write about Frida.  But I thought there are so many plays, films and books about her.  I’m the kind of writer that likes to educate and entertain the audience and write about things most people don’t know.  Then I realized that no one had explored the last week of her life. Who was the last lover of Frida Kahlo?, I asked myself. Then I made a wonderful discovery: her last lover was Teresa Proenza, a Cuban spy!  After three months of research, I had fallen in love with Frida Kahlo. She was not just a painter and the wife of Diego Rivera.  She was a revolutionary painter who surrounded herself with women actively working in the Russian, Cuban and Mexican embassy.  Now I had enough material to write not only about her pain but her state of mind before she took her life. She did not die of pulmonary embolism, as her death certificate states.  Diego protected her by covering her suicide. Come see the play and it will reveal how her mysterious cover up was ingeniously created.

JS: The play features significant figures from Frida's life that appear either physically or in her memory. How did you approach the casting process to represent such diverse historical figures? How do these interactions reveal different facets of Frida's personality?

ON:  Most stories about Frida mention only her male lovers never her female lovers.  I wanted to explore her bisexuality with several famous ladies such as Josephine Baker, Maria Felix, Tina Modotti and Teresa Proenza.

JS: The musical selections — "Paloma Negra," "La Llorona," "Piensa en mi," "Estas Son Las Mananitas," and "Maria Bonita" — are described as "iconic songs of the period." How do these pieces contribute to the narrative and emotional landscape of the production?

ON: These selected songs are the songs that Frida Kahlo would hear at her own gatherings at her Casa Azul.  Also, the songs are nostalgic creating the musical world of Frida.

JS: Your portrayal of Frida earned you an Eddon Award for best performance. What aspects of her character do you find most challenging to embody? How has your understanding of Frida evolved over the years?

ON:   I fell in love with Frida as I learned more about her enduring hope, her devotion to painting her feelings regardless of others’ opinions and her passion for love making despite her broken body that betrayed her.  Physically to embody Frida, you must allow yourself to feel her pain, to feel what it’s like to be an amputee and to navigate such difficult existence without giving up hope it’s truly remarkable.

JS: The relationship between Frida and Diego Rivera is described as "deeply complex" with a "surpassingly deep" emotional attachment despite Diego's lack of monogamy. How does your production explore this paradoxical bond? What do you want audiences to understand about their relationship?

ON:  Their relationship was karmic in nature and their bond was much stronger than we can imagine.  I did write a scene where the audience will be able to see how strong their bond is. 

JS: Frida Kahlo has become an iconic figure not only in art history but in popular culture. How does your production address her legacy beyond the often-simplified image that appears on merchandise and in mainstream representations?

ON: My play does not deal with the commercialized image of Frida Kahlo.  She was totally against it.  My play deals with her physical pain and her mental state of mind the week that she died. 

JS: The immersive format creates a unique relationship between performers and audience. How has this proximity affected the performance dynamics? What kinds of audience responses have surprised you?

ON:  I love the fact that the female audience comes dressed up like Frida Kahlo. It’s very festive and it honors her at the same time.

JS: Your work often explores themes relevant to Latinx and LGBTQ communities. How does "Frida - Stroke of Passion" contribute to these ongoing conversations? What universal themes do you hope to transcend these specific contexts?

ON: Frida has become an iconic powerful figure and the greatest female painter of her time.  But she was also a great concealer using her Tehuana outfits to hide her imperfections.  Frida was an invalid, but she never let you see it!  She used her Oaxaca outfits, braided crowned hairdo and maquillaje (make-up) to create a woman full of health and vibrant energy.  She was a seducer who claimed “the only reason, I go on living is to paint and to love. Frida was not just a painter and the wife of Diego.  She was a revolutionary painter, a fierce feminist and a socialist who lived through a time of racial segregation, male domination and female subjugation but navigated this world by defying the norms of society. Frida is experiencing a rebirth during our times because she advocated for equal rights for the poor, the disabled and the LGBTI community. She did not care what others said about her she fought bitterly to the very end for socialism and equal rights for women.   In 1954, a few months before her death in a wheelchair pushed by Diego, she participated in a demonstration against the government of Guatemala defending the rights of the indigenous people!  

Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., May 16-18, 2025. Tickets are $35. The Casa 0101 Theater is located at 2102 East First Street, Los Angeles, California 90033. For more information, click here.