This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

The Essential Picasso: Drawing Art on Stage

Center Rep offers a portrait of the influential artist, painted in moving imagery by Herbert Siguenza.

A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, Center Rep's newest production opening Oct. 21, will present audiences with a dilemma: Who is more astounding — Picasso or Herbert Siguenza, the multi-talented actor, writer and painter who portrays him?

Siguenza honed his dramatic skills as a founding member of the Latino theater troupe, Culture Clash. Its often satirical portrayals of larger than life personalities provided a fertile landscape for what is becoming Siguenza’s genre of choice.

“I didn’t want it to be a bio play,” Siguenza said, in an interview a few days prior to opening night. “I wanted people to feel like they’ve come to Picasso’s studio in 1957. I wanted it to feel like he was talking to you in the present.”

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To achieve that immediacy, the play highlights just one weekend in the famed artist's life and relies on a talent rarely displayed on stage.

During the one-man tour de force, Siguenza paints, creating Picasso-esque renditions of the expat Spaniard’s work.

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Initially, I wanted to recreate the classic pieces exactly, but we ran into a problem with the Picasso estate,” he said. “Then I started painting my own imagery with a Picasso touch.”

Each night, one original painting is selected to be sold; the rest, he paints over in subsequent performances. The proceeds from the artwork sold at the Lesher will go to the Young REP Theatre training program.

The parallels between live theater and in-the-flesh painting are an adrenaline rush for Siguenza.

“[Visual] art usually communicates indirectly, but theater — you see the result instantly, you know right away if they like it and what they are feeling,” he explained. “With this show, I’m able to combine art and acting … what could be better?”

Siguenza describes Picasso as a genius who was prolific, playful, passionate and insightful. The show embraces, but doesn’t dwell, on the artist’s old school machismo and reputed arrogance.

“People who don’t know Picasso, they assume he was a dark, brooding, misogynistic man,” he said. “Once you start researching him, you see he was philanthropic, giving to his friends, and a good father in his later years.”

The deeper message of the production, beyond the flamboyance of an icon in the history of art, is less romantic. 

“Ultimately, it challenges the audience to think about their lives and think about whether they are doing what they are meant to do. It’s making art a real labor situation. It inspires people to think, Oh, yeah, I have to get off my butt and just do it.”

Siguenza, steeped in Picasso’s heady swirl of bullfighter-style philosophy, suggests destiny is also a character in the play.

“I was almost born to play this role. As a kid, I wanted to be Picasso. I drew all the time. I knew I was always going to do this, but I had to wait until I got to a certain age and life experience to have the gravity that he had.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?