The document describes the set design and use of symbolism in colors and geometry for an opera set in the living room of Frida Kahlo. The all-white walls turn black over the course of the drama to represent the characters' increasing internal conflicts. Transparent walls allow the audience to see both the main stage and hidden backstage areas simultaneously. A large picture window overlooks the space and forms a connection to the outside world, representing themes of secrecy and crime. The triangular layout of the set symbolizes Frida's constant presence, while the degrading square represents the instability of the male characters. Colors like white, black, and red in the costumes and set carry symbolic meanings that further develop the drama.

1. SEPARATION
The audience’s first impression
must be of a realistic and
recognisable space with large
white walls. As the drama unfolds the
white of the walls turns black, giving an
increasingly abstract and conceptual
dimension. The idea behind this is that
the space supports the dramatic
development of the characters and their
actions as well as their internal conflicts.
TRANSPARENCY
Another characteristic of the vertical
parametres that surround the
living room is the possibility of
illuminating the walls from the back and
creating new spaces behind them, such
as the private spaces in the bathrooms.
In addition the audience will see the
action behind the walls and in the living
room at the same time. The idea is to
generate an atmosphere of tension and
complicity with the characters, the
audience being witness to all that
happens in and behind the scenes.
The large picture window that overlooks
the corner of the living room plays the
biggest part in this code of transparency
throughout the whole play. It is the
permanent connection with the outside
world who can see them all the time and
forms an accomplice to their secrets and
crimes. This resource is a subtle
reference to the film “Rope” by Alfred
Hitchcock, where executioners and
victims share the same space under the
gaze of the audience outside.
The opera unfurls in a spacious, angular, white
living room, both modern and luxurious, over
three acts. The living room is centred around a
large picture window, several armchairs, the entrance
to a bathroom and an American kitchen, and is adorned
with gilded picture frames.
SPATIALCONCEPT

2. GEOMETRY
The layout of the space is clearly
depicted by a triangle. It is a
representation of woman and
along with that the continuous presence
of the main character Frida, whilst the
angle of the stage generates vigour and
unpredictability as well as escape
The triangle is in opposition to the square
that dominates all the horizontal
parametres. The square symbolises
robustness, stability and masculinity.
Throughout the play this square suffers
from degradation, disappearing little by
little in the same way as the male
characters. Despite Frida’s early death,
she is the one who is spatially present in
the scene during the whole opera.
The large picture window is a square that
is accessed through a higher triangular
plane with steps, and it acquires the
symbology of an altar where the main
character’s sacrificial death takes place.
MEXICO AND RUSSIA
It is intended to give more information
on the precedence, status and
personalities of the characters through
symbolic and iconic details in their
surroundings. The Mexican presence is
shown mainly through portraits of Frida
and her sister on the living room walls,
with allusion to actual pictures by Frida
Kahlo. The spatial geometry is intended
to reflect a typical modern house in the
suburbs of Mexico City.
The Russian presence is shown with
objects such as Russian dolls that
represent the secrets that intersperse in
the drama. It is also shown through
gilded details on the door frames: a
reference to the ostentatiousness of
luxury Russian interiors.
SPATIALCONCEPT

3. BLACK
Black is worn by Diego and Crisitina
and it also appears in the kitchen
and on the sofa. Black symbolises
the change from good to evil and the end.
It is the final colour after the degradation
of the walls in the scenography. It carries
elegance but at the same time it
symbolises death, hatred, illegality and
brutality.
Absent of light, narrow, hard and heavy, it
is the total antagonist of white.
WHITE
White is present on the living
room walls and floor as well as
in León and Cristina’s
costumes. White is a symbol of purity. It
is a feminine colour, the colour of victims
of sacrifice and minimalistic design. In
this play it is also associated with the
colour of cocaine, the staple that
supports Frida and Diego’s social status
and standard of living.
On a more transcendental plane it is the
colour of spirits and ghosts, and the void.
COLOURSIMBOLOGY
RED
Red can be seen in Frida’s dress
and Cristina’s nurse’s uniform. In
the scenography it appears in an
armchair, in several props such as the
apples (the symbol of original sin) and
the red tablecloth that covers Frida when
she is dead. Frida’s tub in her bathroom
is also red. It is in her bathroom that she
prepares for her date and puts her make-
up on, and where she will be
dismembered. It is also an altar and
represents sacrifice.
Red will symbolise love, blood and earth.
It depicts luxury, immorality, forbidden
things and danger.
Colours carry a strong symbology in the
characters’ costumes as well as in the
scenography and props in the same way as
the geometry and spatial dramaturgy.