Stage Kiss lands up giving stage kisses a bad name.

Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl

Phoenix Players

Directed by André Dimitrijevic and Rachel Worton

How much of a risk for actors is kissing on stage? Does the challenge of making a kiss appear full of emotion sometimes/occasionally/often morph into the real thing? And what happens when a pair of ex-lovers is cast in a romantic comedy about, what else, a pair of ex-lovers rekindling former romance?

 

The possible problem of the stage kiss pressing the restart button on an old love affair is the theme of playwright Sarah Ruhl’s quirky comedy featuring not just one melodramatic play within a play but two versions featuring the same pair of on-again/off-again lovers. Throughout, their current mates circle, waiting for life to return to the pre-stage kiss state.

 

Although there are some funny sequences in the script, which hovers on the edge of farce and parody most of the time, the wit in Stage Kiss flickers occasionally rather than burning with a constant flame.

 

Phoenix Players struggle to keep the flame alive as She, played by Sandy Wynne, and He, played by Paul Behncke, try to distinguish their on and off-stage characters in the various sequences. Wynne makes the effort to change her accent and overact in her secondary roles. Behncke tries to seem more in romance-revival mode when he is not performing in one of the playlets within the main play, but they have not been directed into making the distinctions definite enough. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the cast, who also needed more directorial support from co-directors André Dimitrijevic and Rachel Worton, seem to be working hard but rarely to lasting effect.

 

The result, on opening night at least, was that audience laughter frequently broke out in the wrong places and some of the funnier moments passed without reaction.

 

Comedy is often more difficult to stage effectively than a straight play. A work of this kind, which stumbles between amusing patches and is too convoluted for its own good as well, is sorely in need of precise timing and very experienced performers and directors to bring out the best in the variable material.

 

This production lands up giving stage kisses a bad name.

 

Phoenix Players’ production of Stage Kiss continues to March 31.

 

Directors: André Dimitrijevic and Rachel Worton

Set: Anthony Neary

Sound: Dan Litchinsky

Lighting: Mark MacDonald

Costumes: Helen Visbach

 

Cast:

A Woman/She…………………………….…Sandy Wynne

A Man/He……………………………………Paul Behnche

A Director……………………………………John Cook

Kevin…………………………………………Solly Balbaa

Husband/Harrison…………………………….Craig Miller

Angela/Millie/Maid…………………………..Laura Dawn McCue

Millicent/Laurie………………………………Tanja Puchala