In the play, Tony-winner Ruehl (Lost in Yonkers, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? ) plays iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Susana Tubert directs. Kahlo has become a much celebrated and examined character in recent years (a Julie Taymor film, "Frida," starring Salma Hayek, appeared in 2002). During her life, she lived in the shadow of her more famous husband, painter Diego Rivera. Their relationship was a tempestuous one, with both sides having affairs, including one between Kahlo and Leon Trotsky. Because of an accident that stole her ability to have children and ruined her back and pelvis, Kahlo suffered her entire life. In recent decades, Kahlo's own work as a painter has been recognized and acclaimed. Shaffer's play will look at the final 18 months of Kahlo's life.
Pereyra will play Rivera, while Colón-Zayas is cast in the role of Rosita.
Rene Pereyra, who was born in Mexico, where he founded his own school for actors and directors in Mexico City called Actores Del Metodo, has appeared in the films "Traffic," "The Old Gringo" and "Salvador." Liza Colón-Zayas is a member of the LABryinth Theater Company. She appeared in the New York premiere of Our Lady of 121st Street and In Arabia We'd All Be Kings.
Ruehl recently starred Off-Broadway in another one-person play, Woman Before a Glass, (A Triptych in Four Parts), playing Peggy Guggenheim.