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Forum 2| February 15-25, 2007
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by Diana Son
Directed by Jack Phillips
Click Here
to listen to
director Jack Phillips' comments on
Stop Kiss
February
15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, and 24 at 8pm |
February 18, 24, & 25 at 2:30pm |
February 18 at 7:30pm
This
play contains adult themes and strong language,
and is recommended for mature audiences.
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February
15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, and 24 at 8pm |
February 18, 24, & 25 at 2:30pm |
February 18 at 7:30pm
A
powerful story by the producer of TV's hit series "Law
and Order Criminal Intent" of two women whose relationship
culminates in one wonderful and horrible moment. Unique in
its structure and its heart, it is a poignant play about the
ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably.
“Stop
Kiss is one of those rare events that reminds you why theater
has a power that no other art form can touch.“--Ron
Mangravitf, New Times
More
Photos on Page 2
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Cast and Crew - Click any photo for a larger view
Cast:
Callie
.....................Linda Cunningham
Sara...................................
Vicki Blair
George ......................George McArdle
Peter..................................
Jim Kopp
Mrs. Winsley............... Ixta Menchaca
Detective Cole................... Bob Baker
Nurse .........................Darla Goudeau
Director’s
Corner
By Jack Phillips
This play intrigues me on many levels.
First it is a very clear comment on the
level of violence some prejudices cause.
While most of us can’t understand
why differences in people could create feelings
so strong that they lead to physical force,
we can at least look at the effect of such
actions.
The play is also a great challenge for actors
and directors. Diana Son tells her story
in an altered chronology leading up to and
away from the culminating event. The first
scene of the play is the first scene of
the story. The second scene of the play
is the first scene after the event. We get
to see what led up to the event and what
happened afterward in alternating scenes.
The structure means that the actors are
more like movie actors. Each scene is out
of order in progression of the plot. The
actors have to keep clearly in mind where
they are in the story so that they can know
what their characters feel and think at
that time. It’s a tricky job.
I was blessed in this production to work
with fine actors willing to stretch to new
boundaries and a wonderful crew who understood
how to meet the extraordinary needs of this
play. We only lacked you, an audience, to
listen and watch our story.
Dramaturg’s Diary
By Catey Sullivan
We’ve come such a long way baby, right?
After all, we’ve got “The L Word”
on primetime TV, Melissa Etheridge selling
millions, Mary Cheney having a baby and Ellen
DeGeneres hosting the Oscars. As Glinda so
eloquently put it in “The Wizard of
Oz,” “It's all right now–you
may all come out.”
But it’s not all right.
When Naperville’s Unitarian Church hung
a rainbow banner from it’s façade
in support of gay marriage, anonymous letter
writers threatened to burn the church if the
banner didn’t come down.
Barely a week into Stop Kiss rehearsals, a
gunman burst into a private home on Chicago’s
south side and opened fire on a group of gay
men attending a private party there. Residents
of the “gay house,” one neighbor
opined, needed to move because the neighborhood
was for “normal” people.
In 2004 (the latest year statistics are available),
2,301 members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual
and Transgendered community were victims of
hate crimes, according to the latest report
by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence
Programs.* Among those 2,301 were two women
holding hands, walking down 39th street in
Kansas City around 1:30 in the morning on
July 13. A pickup truck drove by the couple,
slurs hurled from the cab. The truck circled
the block, came back and stopped. Its passenger
exited, attacked, and left one of the women
with a concussion. The attacker was never
caught.
Six years after Stop Kiss premiered, playwright
Diana Son’s harrowing, heart-breaking
scenario continues to play out, a badly broken
record that we can’t seem to change.
But for all that, Stop Kiss rings with hope,
not despair. As Son has noted, Stop Kiss is
a love story, not a hate story. It’s
about unexpected love, love that defies and
rejuvenates, swooping in where you never expected
it.
I know a woman from Schaumburg. Biologically,
she was born male, and after spending the
first 25 years of her life that way, she had
gender reassignment surgery. She’s married
to the same woman she loved in high school
(at least, they’re as married as they
can legally be in this state.) This made no
sense to me, so I finally just asked: “Were
you guys always lesbians and just didn’t
realize it?” Her partner told me something
I’ll never forget: “You don’t
fall in love with a gender,” she said.
“You fall in love with a person.”
I thought of that conversation when I first
read Stop Kiss. It is about unexpected love,
and how far we as a society have to go before
we can fully accept it rather than try to
stop it. Stop Kiss is a joyous step in the
right direction.
*The FBI publishes its own report on hate
crimes, which includes anti-LGBT incidents,
but it consistently contains information on
far fewer cases than the National Coalition
of Anti-Violence Programs publication because
it relies on law enforcement reports of such
crimes rather than victim service organization
data, a deficiency recently cited by the U.S.
Department of Justice.
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Production
Credits:
Director
Jack Phillips
Technical Director
Thad Hallstein
Stage Manager
Denny Wise
Assistant Stage Managers
Dennis Hudson, Ginny Richardson
Costume Designers
Carolyn Redding, Dorothy Tressler
Costume Crew
Linda Bremer, Marilyn Darnall, Adele Davis,
Debby Mills, Donna Sauers
Dramaturg
Catey Sullivan
Hospitality Chair
Carol Clarke
Hospitality Crew
Bryon and Stephanie Abramowitz, Jayne Besjak,
Bonnie Hilton, Amdrea Imes, Cassandra Johnson
Locke, Diane Oppenheim, Rick Pavia, Pat Rotz,
Debbie Sampson, Nancy Schifo, Mary Smith
Lighting Designer
Benton Bullwinkel
Lighting Crew
Nell Fisher Agnew, Linda Bugielski, Kathleen
Pecis, Jan Quinn, Betsy Stiles
Makeup Designers
Arlene Page, Amanda Ragan
Makeup Crew
Ceri Hartnett, Kelli Kopp, Laura Leonardo-Ownby
Properties Designer
Mark Cunningham
Properties Crew
Tom Gess, Donna Kanak, Kathleen Kusper, Jon
Mills, Mary Van Nest
Set Construction Chair
Robert Erck
Set Construction Crew
Grace Abrahamson, Nell Fisher Agnew, Heinz
Karplus, Tom Kokontis, Jason McCargo, Richard
Ptacek, Peter Sonnenburg, Mark Wisthuff, Sue
Wisthuff
Set Designer
Rob Pold
Set Painting Chair
Grace Abrahamson
Set Painting Crew
Carol Clarke, Nell Fisher-Agnew, Mike Janke,
Rob Nardini, Arlene Page, Cathy Van Horne
Sound Designer
Jack Phillips
Sound Crew
Benton Bullwinkel, Jack Calvert, Nicole LaFrancis,
Betsy Stiles, Stephanie Williams
Box Office Chair
Mary Ellen Schutt
Box Office Crew
Ed Barrow, Kelli Kopp, Jill Neely, Lori B.
Proksa, Carol Suda, Marilyn Wilson, Sue Wisthuff
House Manager Chair
Bill Wilson
House Managers
Susan Cardamone, Rob Cramer, Donna Kanak,
Front Row Center Flyer
Joe Petrolis
Group Sales Chair
Betsy Stiles
Poster Distribution
Kathleen Kusper
Production Coordinator
Jon Mills
Program Advertising
Peggy Carlson
Publicity Chair
Carol Dapogny
Program Editor
Ed Barrow
Program Production
Marion J. Reis, Stephanie Williams
Actives Website
Judy DiVita
Actives
Website photos
Judy DiVita and Peter Bosy
Acknowledgments:
Original New York Production by
The New York Shakespeare Festival,
George C. Wolfe, Producer.
This play was written with support from
Playwrights Horizons made possible in part
by funds granted to the author through a
program sponsored by Amblin Entertainment,
Inc.
Produced with special permission from Dramatists
Play Service, Inc.
Special thanks to:
The Fruit Store, Western Springs and Hinsdale,
for providing apple cider at cost with free
delivery.
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More Photos on Page 2
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