“Stop Kiss,” the new play at the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre is decent, punctuated at turns by mediocrity and complete brilliance.
The play narrates a depressing, shattering story of two young women, Sara and Callie, who fall in love. One night they are in a park and make out. A stranger approaches them and offers to pay them to perform in front of him in a motel. Things go awry, and he assaults them. Sara ends up in a coma. Callie is tormented and attempts to hide the more unsettling details.
The story is narrated in brief vignettes that transcend time, jumping from Sara and Callie’s first meeting to Sara in a coma. But slowly the vignettes interweave and unravel the secrets of that night.
The acting by most of the cast is understated, lacking a certain “it.” The acting is not bad, but neither is it great. But one cannot say enough for Rebecca Haden who played Callie, a terse, stressed out New York urbanite who falls in love with Sara. At first her role seemed as understated as the rest, but as the play continued, her character’s personality grew and she gave the most poignant, tortured performance. Take for instance the scene when she is questioned by the detective. It’s shattering.
But Maggie Hargett, who plays Sara, lacked something. She was bubbly, pleasant and innocent, but most of her dialogue sounded the same. She seemed akin to Florence Henderson of “The Brady Bunch” — both pleasant, but bland and flat with little vocal or emotional variation.
However, this must be said. The cast is young, mostly UT students. Despite their youth, they had maturity and sensitivity. They took on a challenging play and made it poignant, especially Haden.
The playwright Diana Son wrote a phenomenal script. The writing is cracking, witty, clipped and spare — full of longing and need. Despite the morose subject matter, Son has a genius for comedic relief, which makes this play bearable. All the while, the humor is respectful to the subject matter.
The most brilliant scene comes when the two crawl into bed with each other. It’s awkward, tense and humorous with perfect comedic timing and writing. It captures well the hidden, unspeakable love they feel for each other.
Morgan Matens, the scenic designer, did a fine job crafting Callie’s apartment. It is cluttered, sparsely furnished and simple. The lone bookshelf, waist high, is stuffed like a pigeon hole with junk. When the play opens, Callie’s futon is covered in newspapers, clothes, clothes hangers and a trophy. The wood floor, too, is sullied and unswept. The whole environment complimented Callie’s personality. It’s as frazzled as she is.
The CBT had courage to put this play on. Haden and Hargett had courage, too. It takes a lot to go on stage wearing only undergarments, not to mention kissing each other. It also takes courage to tackle what many consider taboo — homosexuality — and the whole cast, crew and staff should be praised for that.
