'Stop Kiss' lingers on poignant love story rather than political issues

"She was always asking, 'What do you want?' And finally, I answered . . ."

At its core, "Stop Kiss" is a bittersweet story of a kiss interrupted. Girl meets girl, friendship turns into attraction, and the result is a tragic kiss. The comedic drama, which was written by Diane Son and directed by Chris Wendell '03, opened last weekend at Theatre~Intime.

The play is about the unexpected relationship that flourishes between two women who are in the throes of unsatisfying romantic relationships, and the unforeseen consequences of their connections with each other.

Callie, stupendously played by sophomore Barbara Luse, has inherited her news traffic reporter job from her uncle's ex-boyfriend who left her for her sister. When asked what she does for a living, she wittingly tells us, "I bring bad news to people".

Now thirty-something, she is still as flighty as ever, as seen through the eyes of her on-demand old college lover, George (played by junior Micah Baskir).

The casual nature of their sexual relationship and George's indiscreet affairs show Callie's contempt and muddled fancies. She stays with George whom she does not really love because she is simply not ready to replace him.

That all changes when Sara (Jean Su '05) enters the picture. When Sara and Callie first meet, they are completely ignorant in thinking that their relationship will grow to anything more than platonic.

Sara has brought over Caesar, the (unseen) cat, for Callie to take care of. Sara has just moved from St. Louis on a two-year fellowship as a third grade teacher in the Bronx.

At first, Sara's naive ways are treated with skepticism by Callie, but this soon turns to admiration. As George tells her, "She's a nut. What are people like that trying to do, anyway?"

Callie reflects, "There must be something wrong with us, because when she told me . . . that is what I thought." The innocence with which Sara sees the world is refreshing not only to Callie, but also to the audience.

As they share their experiences over many beers and several bottles of wine throughout the play, their friendship develops into something more and leads to the ultimate kiss after which a bystander attacks them, leaving Sara in a coma.

The kiss marks a turning point where the story changes focus from their relationship and self-discovery to issues dealing with hate crimes, victimization, and coping in the aftermath of the attack.

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Callie is suddenly thrust into a political world that thrives on labeling and blaming.

Though she once enjoyed her consistent, predictable life that was free from decision making (other than selecting the trendy restaurant for an evening out on the town), Callie makes the greatest decision in her life when she says to the comatose Sara, "Choose me!" In this cry, we see Callie's growth from a self-absorbed New Yorker to a fully-awakened character.

According to Wendell, the play moves away from merely giving "the audience an emotional response." To him, "it's more about providing a lens for observation."

The play's many themes are presented in such a way that the audience is not moved to anger over the hate crimes. Instead, Wendell's treatment of narrative diminish those big issues to a more personal treatment. It becomes the story of Sara and Callie and their burgeoning relationship — rather than one focusing on the political implications of such a bond. The dramatization of these ideas transcends gender preferences, and presents the evolution of two young women.

One of the show's drawbacks was the inconsistency and lack of attention to the costumes in scene changes. They slide back and forth between scenes in short amounts of time, yet there was little concern for keeping the costumes between the scenes consistent, which hurt the play's realistic element. At times, Callie would travel in time with the exact same shirt and, at another, she exists her apartment without any shoes.

Also, it seems that the chemistry between Callie and Sara was slight, or altogether not there. Their relationship is meant to flourish — not through the explicit, but rather through touch and moments of flirtation. But these subtleties are not that apparent.

It is not so clear that Sara is the stronger one who is leading Callie. The last scene — the kiss — is a crucial scene because it is the pivotal point between the two sides of the play, but it lacked a sense of passion and thus failed to encapsulate the urgency of the moment.

Overall, however, the play did display wonderful stage management and a very talented sound designer brought many of the scenes together.

It is not only to the playwright Diana Son's credit, but also to the very talented cast that the humor and wit succeeded in producing a play on such grave themes of love, friendship, and self-discovery.

This play takes us on the journey of two women at a time of re-evaluation. They are seeking to make a connection . . . seeking the answer to their happiness.

Their ventures together show them that the answer comes not from the Big Apple, but that it is more similar to the eight ball that appears in the play. The eight ball, coincidentally, always stops on two answers, and, in the end, the girls learn to stop asking.

In a city where everyone appears to be going somewhere, Callie shows a different reality. Caught in the whirlwind of the city, Callie and Sara learn to stop, take in the moment, and kiss.