A kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is …

|

The drama at the heart of Stage Kiss, the Sarah Ruhl comedy at Twilight Theater Company, can be summed up with a simple question She asks He near the middle of the play: When we kissed, did it feel like “an actor kissing an actor or a person kissing a person?”

That’s a real dilemma in this over-the-top comedy about ex-lovers suddenly reunited after many years when they’re surprisingly cast in leading roles in an over-the-top comedy about ex-lovers suddenly reunited after many years when Ada (She’s character in the play within the play) is diagnosed with a month to live.

Was it real, or was it Memorex? Kristen Paige and Rob Kimmelman, discombobulated in “The Kiss.” Photo: Alicia Turvin

Kristen Paige, a new arrival in Portland, plays She/Ada, who is on stage for nearly every moment of this production. She carries the play with magnetism and energy from the moment she stumbles on stage for an awkward audition with the play’s director (Christopher Ruggles), performing opposite Kevin (Jason Fox, who always seemed on the verge of cracking up on opening night, which might have been on purpose; even if it wasn’t, it worked well for his nervous theater-wannabe character).

Her awkward audition and work opposite Kevin helps enhance the chemistry between Paige and her leading man, played by Rob Kimmelman. The leads surpass community theater expectations with more than just their on-stage chemistry: They each speak in at least two intentionally hammy accents; they both have to sing and dance (He on crutches, even); and She does a number of quick changes (one is a quick change about a quick change, of course).

The staging – changing the elaborate sets designed by Derek Lane and Josiah Green quickly while the lights are down – and comedic timing are spot-on (the play was directed by Matt Gibson), and the supporting cast is solid. Tony Domingue and Jayne Ruppert steal their scenes as She’s loving but no-nonsense husband and daughter, respectively (Domingue plays Ada’s husband and Ruppert plays her daughter in the play within a play, too, just in case you weren’t quite confused enough yet about the blurry lines between the play you’re watching and the one you’re watching within the one you’re watching). But confusion is part of the delight in Stage Kiss.

Speaking of confusion, back to all the kissing: Paige stoically kisses the majority of her castmates (four out of six, by my count) for the enjoyment of the audience. Kissing, in Stage Kiss, is passionate, disgusting, hilarious, painful, surprising, confusing, and comforting. The play asks the question: When is a kiss between actors more than acting? That is something audiences may never learn to distinguish – but Stage Kiss gives a multitude of opportunities to try.

*

Sponsor

Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon

Stage Kiss continues through March 25 at Twilight Theater Company, 75 N. Brandon Ave., Portland. Ticket and schedule information here.

Be part of our
growing success

Join our Stronger Together Campaign and help ensure a thriving creative community. Your support powers our mission to enhance accessibility, expand content, and unify arts groups across the region.

Together we can make a difference. Give today, knowing a donation that supports our work also benefits countless other organizations. When we are stronger, our entire cultural community is stronger.

Donate Today

Photo Joe Cantrell

DeAnn Welker is a writer and editor and a lifelong Oregonian (the sixth generation in her family to be born here). She has three daughters who share her passion for the arts, especially TV and theater. As a journalist, she has written or worked for The Oregonian, Oregon ArtsWatch, Television Without Pity (RIP), TODAY.com, MSNBC.com, and the Anchorage Daily News. She also spent a season working in marketing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Now she spends her days working from home as a proposal manager and most of her evenings and weekends driving her kids somewhere. She also volunteers as a Girl Scout leader for her daughters' troops. She lives in Tualatin with her three daughters, her boyfriend, and their smooth collie, Percy. When she's not at the theater, you'll find her reading, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, or watching TV (usually a reality show like Big Brother or The Challenge or rewatching Friends).

SHARE:
Triangle Productions Perfect Arrangement Portland Oregon
Oregon Repertory Singers Finding Light 50th Season Portland Oregon
Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon
Literary Arts Oregon Book Awards Portland Center Stage at the Armory Portland Oregon
Imago Theatre Carol Triffle Mission Gibbons Portland Oregon
Bonnie Bronson 2024 Fellow Wendy Red Star Reed College Reception Kaul Auditorium Foyer Portland Oregon
City of Hillsboro Walters Cultural Arts Center Tony Furtado Hillsboro Oregon
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Goldendale Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Golden Road Arts Grey Raven Gallery Near the Reser Beaverton Oregon
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center Prosperity of the Sea Lincoln County Historical Society Newport Oregon Coast
PassinArt Theatre and Portland Playhouse present Yohen Brunish Theatre Portland Oregon
Northwest Dance Project Sarah Slipper Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
Newport Performance and Visual Arts Centers Newport Oregon Coast
Portland Art Museum Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks Portland Oregon
High Desert Museum Sasquatch Central Oregon
Oregon Cultural Trust donate
We do this work for you.

Give to our GROW FUND.