Artist, actor & playwright Herbert Siguenza makes San Diego his theater home, stages latest at the REP through Oct. 6

By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Reporter

If Herbert Siguenza’s mother had not made sure her little boy got regular dental checkups we may not have “A Weekend with Pablo Picasso,” Siguenza’s one-man play staged Sept. 7 – Oct. 6 at San Diego Repertory Theatre. It’s also a good thing little Herb and his mother had to wait for the dentist because in the reception room the boy found a copy of David Douglas Duncan’s 1958 book “The Private World of Pablo Picasso.”

“I’ve wanted to write a play based off those photos since I was a kid,” Siguenza said. “At the time Picasso was already a legend. He was already famous and wealthy. The whole premise of the play is how does an artist keep hungry? How does he remain creative after having done everything?”

Originated with a three-week workshop production at San Diego REP in 2010, director Todd Salovey, the REP’s associate artistic director, and Siguenza took the show on the road, playing in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Houston, and garnering some fine critical notices. Salovey terms it “an inspiring story about Picasso’s passion to create and his talent for being an artist who remained forever young. Herb paints, writes and channels Picasso.”

Like Duncan’s book, Siguenza’s play is set in Picasso’s studio on the coast of France in 1957. Picasso’s second wife Jacqueline Roque and two of his children are in Paris.

“He’s 76, really calmed down by then and not the man that many people know as a philanderer,” Siguenza said. “By that time, he was pretty content as a family man. In the photographs you see him down on his knees with his kids. He was good to Jacqueline. He’s not going through that turbulence, but he talks about it: ‘the thing I used to do.’”

Art came first to Siguenza, who drew from early childhood. He went to the California College of the Arts in Oakland, Calif. where he earned a bachelor’s of fine arts in printmaking. When he was in college, he discovered theater and was one of the founders of Culture Clash, the renowned Latino comedy group.

“When Culture Clash started going on the road, I neglected my art for 20 years. Now I do art a lot – on stage as well as off – and I’m exhibiting again. I actually have more confidence in my art than in my acting,” he said. “Picasso had that confidence when he approached a canvas or a piece of paper. He was very direct.”

Recipient of a Theatre Communications New Generations Grant, Siguenza is an artist in residence and mentee at the REP until the end of 2013. This means he shadows mentor Sam Woodhouse, the REP’s artistic director, learning how to run a regional theater.

The final three performances Oct. 5 and 6 of “Picasso” are performed in Spanish. Siguenza calls it a challenge, but it is also meant to demonstrate to the REP and San Diego audiences that “if you build it they will come.”

“I feel that Spanish-speaking audiences are under served in our community, and I wanted to see if they would come out and support a play entirely in Spanish,” he said.

Siguenza has lived in Normal Heights for 18 months. He plans to make San Diego his theatrical home. La Jolla Playhouse is producing his adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 1” outdoors in Barrio Logan as part of their With Out Walls initiative. At the REP, he is developing a play titled “Steal Heaven” concerning Abbie Hoffman, the 1960s radical. It was work-shopped at this year’s Jewish Arts Festival.

Performances of “A Weekend With Pablo Picasso” continue 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 6. Additionally, there are several night-specific events throughout the run, including a Surrealist poetry reading Wednesday, Sept. 18 and a Spanish-language led discussion on artists as social historians Oct. 5. Siguenza will participate in a post-show “Meet the Artists” discussion Friday, Sept. 20.

San Diego REP is located at the Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza Downtown. For more information and tickets visit sdrep.org or call 619-544-1000.

Additional “Picasso” events

The San Diego Artist Guild presents “Contemporary Expressionism: The Creative Spirit”
Lyceum Gallery, Sept. 6 – Oct. 6
Opening night reception: Sept. 13, 5 – 8 p.m.

¡Viva Chula Vista! discussion with Deputy Mayor Pamela Bensoussan, Councilmember Mary Salas and artist Michael Leaf
Sept. 13, 7 p.m. (before 8 p.m. show)

Live Art in the Lobby!
Sept. 14, 7 p.m. (before 8 p.m. show)

Surreal poetry reading presented by Amigos Del REP
Sept. 18, 6 p.m. (before 7 p.m. show)

Sam’s Salon: “The Nature & Sources of Creativity” discussion with Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse, Kim Rubinstein and Lisa Porter
Sept. 19, 7 p.m. (before 8 p.m. show)

Meet the artists with Herbert Siguenza and Casting Director Jacole Kitchen
Sept. 20, after 8 p.m. show

Speak up Saturday with Literary Manager Danielle Ward
Sept. 21, after 2 p.m. show

“The Artist & Society” discussion
Sept. 26, 7p.m. (before 8 p.m. show)

En Español: El Comentario Social de los Artistas
Oct. 5, 7 p.m. (before 8 p.m. show)