STOP/KISS – Written by Diane Son; Directed by Emma Moonfield (Maxwell). Produced by ER Productions (Presented at The Storyteller Theatre, 9905 East Colfax Avenue, Aurora) through August 29. Tickets available at StoryTellerTheatre.com.
An inaugural production by a brave new company in a brand-new space. I was honored to be there on this auspicious occasion. ER (Emma and Ratt) Productions proved more than ready to take on the difficult conversation that STOP/KISS offers. A sweet Lesbian love story that grows slowly with the texture of a relationship changing after a violent encounter with a homophobic brute (never shown on stage). This does not allow for light-handed guidance. Emma Maxwell has used her own experience on stage to lead the confident production of this both funny and touching script.
Written by Jennifer Son who, previous to this full-length script, had only written one-act plays. She went on after the success of STOP/KISS to a career in episodic TV projects. However, that background in short plays had not provided her the “boots on the ground” experience in writing a script that needed a strong physical through-line to tell its story. The scenic reality of the format requires the actors (and the audience) to jump from the beginning of the relationship to another beginning after the assault, slipping back and forth in time. Nothing wrong with that format. It worked well to grow the relationship . . . until you try to do it in a small space that can’t support multiple settings. While the actor/stagehands were well-rehearsed in the dynamics of moving from scene to scene and did a yeoman’s job in getting furniture off and on stage, making and unmaking a sofa bed, creating an invisible cat, moving the story into a hospital room, it still creates a pause in the flow of the story to have to wait between scenes for a new set-up. I have no solutions – only observations.
The two main characters are Callie (played by Helen Driesen) and Sarah (played by Ratt Walsh) who meet over a cat who needs a new home. Their relationship builds slowly as histories and current situations are shared. Both women have titular men in their lives. Callie has George (Sa’Daiveon Newell), a school buddy with benefits, but no sense of a joint future. Sarah has a boyfriend back home in St. Louis who is hurt and confused by her decision to abandon the Midwest to teach third grade students in Brooklyn. He is Peter (played by Neil Soriano Isoles, Jr.). He also takes on the role of Detective Cole, the NYPD investigator of the attack on the women. The fifth player is Veronica Chavez-Salgado who does an excellent job playing the witness to the attack from her bedroom window and later as the nurse in the hospital.
This crew pulls together to make sure the story is told using humor, telescoping time and action, authentic dialogue, and patience. The quiet moments in this script are as important as the dialogue in many scenes. They create an acceptance and an adventure for both women. This is not a story about a head-long rush to bed, but an almost shy sense of discovery. Callie is an experienced City mouse with intimate knowledge of where to get the best of any kind of food, but she often can’t find her keys. Sarah is calm, steady, a determined teacher, but innocent to the ways of the city. A Country mouse, she can find the missing keys but doesn’t deliberate on appropriate clothing. The changes that happen in the relationship culminate in one of the most sweet and touching scenes you’ll ever witness on a stage.
The men in the cast create the rough edges around the women. Our first encounter with a male character is a persistent detective who seems to be trying to blame the women for the assault perpetrated on them. It takes the testimony of another woman observer to paint the whole picture. Neil plays both the nervous cop and the distraught boyfriend who just wants Sarah to come back to St. Louis with equal grace, differentiating the two characters with ease. Sa’Diveon is the cool sarcastic noncommittal born-to-the-City kind of guy who is suspicious of everyone he doesn’t know. And of everyone who tries to come into his comfortable settled world. All of the characters are well-developed and authentic.
The Story Teller Theatre offers a cozy space in which to play, adequate lighting and excellent sound equipment . . . always important for a new space. A Resource Room is offered that provides information about corollary activities that support the subject matter of the production. The city parking lot behind the building (also supporting the People’s Building) offers adequate and free parking.
All in all, an auspicious beginning for this new adventure. BUT only one more weekend to catch this funny and touching performance. Don’t get sidetracked. You don’t have ANYTHING better to do next weekend.
A WOW factor of 8.75!!