FRINGE REVIEW: Stop Kiss

Diana Son's understated, powerful drama benefits from a smart production emphasizing the intriguing romance between Callie (Colleen Hughes) and Sara (Erin Carr), neither whom identify as gay, resisting and denying their feelings for one another.

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FRINGE REVIEW: Stop Kiss

POSTED: Monday, September 10, 2012, 5:55 PM

Every year, there's hundreds and hundreds of performances at the Philly Fringe and Live Arts Festival, and unless it's one of the big shows, it's sometimes hard to tell what you're going to get. Here at Critical Mass we're sending writers to as many shows as we possibly can for 75 pocket-sized reviews over the course of the fest. Check back in with us at On The Fringe every day for real talk on what these things actually are!

SHOW: Stop Kiss

GROUP: Kristin Heckler

GENRE: Theater

ATTENDED: Sun., Sept. 9, 2 p.m.

CLOSES: Sept. 14

BRIEF SELF-DESCRIPTION: Two young women fall unexpectedly in love. On the night of their first, tentative kiss, they are brutally attacked. With scenes alternating before and after the assault, this beautiful piece will make you laugh, cry, sigh, and cheer, while examining if progress has been made since its 1998 debut.

WE THINK: Diana Son's understated, powerful drama benefits from a smart production emphasizing the intriguing romance between Callie (Colleen Hughes) and Sara (Erin Carr), neither whom identify as gay, resisting and denying their feelings for one another. Neither Son or director Kristin Heckler make Stop Kiss an Issue Play, so we process both their awful attack and their new social identities on a very personal level. Sara's ex (Matt Tallman) Callie's friend with benefits (William Toussaint), a police detective (John Jerbasi), and other bystanders (Megan Ede) define the transformations that take the women by surprise and change their lives.

—Mark Cofta

Posted by Mark Cofta @ 5:55 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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