Play explores relationships with inventive style
The Theatre department of Kirkwood Community College will end its 2007-08 season with a play that explores boundaries and ideas. Stop Kiss by Diana Son is a controversial story of love, presented in Ballantyne Auditorium April 4-6. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee.
The play is directed by Rick D. Anderson, with set design and lighting by Doug Anderson and costume design by Annee Noah.
Stop Kiss is described as a “poignant and funny play” about the ways that lives can quickly change. The two main characters, Callie and Sara fall in love unexpectedly, and their first kiss ignites a violent attack that changes their lives forever.
“[Stop Kiss] is a love story between two women and what it means in society. It is about people figuring out about who they are,” Theatre Director Rick Anderson said. He also cited the quick pace of the show, which has 23 scenes and is out of chronological sequence.
“We selected this play because it was a love story. The author, Diana Son described the story as a collision between how people identify you and the more complex way you identify yourself,” Anderson said. “She uses flashbacks and a back-and-forth time movement in wonderful ways. It is a love story, a story about collisions in two or more worlds. Finally, it is a story about us and the unexpected places where love can take us all.”
Anderson also noted that the production has strong language and violence, dealing with the controversial topic of same-sex relationships. The production won an award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Kirkwood’s presentation will be accompanied by information and discussion by the Kirkwood Unity student group.
Tickets for the April 4-6 presentation of Stop Kiss are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students with current ID. Kirkwood faculty, staff and students are admitted free. Tickets are available from Kirkwood Student Life, (319) 398-5578.