Stage Kiss - Geffen
Stage Kiss - Geffen
#1Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/15/16 at 11:20pm
Haven't read any talk on the production of Stage Kiss at The Geffen - anyone in LA or visiting had the chance to see it?
just read this review in LA Times and it sounds charming - i've read quite a bit about Sarah Ruhl - but have never seen any of her plays
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/theater/la-et-cm-stage-kiss-review-20160415-column.html
mamaleh
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/04
#3Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/16/16 at 12:11pm
Saw it at Playwrights Horizons. Very funny, enjoyable play.
#6Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/18/16 at 8:24am
It was really great. The set design was outstanding and the leading lady was terrific.
#7Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/18/16 at 10:54am
Saw it at the Goodman and I remember that I enjoyed it, but that's it. It didn't really stick with me.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#8Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/18/16 at 11:56am
Saw this last night and, honestly, think it is one of the worst things I've ever seen. It was so bad, it's hard to know exactly where the fault lies. Was it the play, the cast, the performances, the direction???
Some thoughts:
The play itself has a play-within-a-play structure, but features sub-par "backstage" comedy and is full of old, obvious jokes (forgotten lines, messed-up entrances & blocking, props that don't work, etc.) NOISES OFF it isn't. It's not even THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. It's just bad.
In the 2nd act, we briefly leave the play-within-a-play setting for several trite, superficial encounters between the now-together former lovers and their significant others, before launching into another lame play-within-a-play. Sample dialogue: One character, at the end of a rant about soul mates, cries "I believe in God, goddammit!" (Yes, the writing is really at that level.)
The whole "2 actors/former lovers now have to share the stage together" trope was done ten times better in KISS ME KATE almost 70 years ago. STAGE KISS brings absolutely nothing new to the table.
There was a complete lack of chemistry between the leads. It's hard to feel that you are witnessing the reigniting of a passionate love affair when the actors playing the roles seem like they've barely met. The same problem exists between the lead actress and her husband & daughter. There is no sense that they are really a family, so their concerns about whether she leaves them or not ring hollow.
We are told, several times, what a good actress She (yeah, that's the character's name) is -- and yet we never see any proof of it. Quite the opposite, in fact. For example, when He (ditto) tells her how fantastic She was in her final scene, we -- having just witnessed said scene -- can only shake our heads in disbelief. (This could have been played ironically; unfortunately, it wasn't.)
Why are He and She still wearing their "fancy dress" stage costumes weeks after the play has closed? And then again in the next scene which is set even later? Is this "symbolism" or just ineptitude?
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After 120 painful minutes, the morale of the story turns out to be "There's no place like home" -- made even more apparent by several blatant references to THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Quite a few walk-outs at intermission, polite applause at the end, and no standing O from an L.A. audience tells you all you really need to know. What's more, a small group spontaneously formed in the lobby afterwards, discussing the piece of crap we had just seen.
Truly, truly terrible.
#9Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/18/16 at 2:22pm
yikes - well, got tickets to see it this weekend.
Really curious about seeing this acclaimed playwright's work - although a tad disappointed the Geffen couldn't get an A List cast - as they have so good at that
#10Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/18/16 at 5:58pm
I think it was so bad that it was good. Its a comedy so i thought it was suppose to be like that. Either way the leading lady was a standout. Everyone around me loved it.
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#11Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/18/16 at 6:18pm
I saw it a few months ago in SF and really enjoyed it. Of course a different production with different actors make all the difference. Especially because in SF, She was played by the excellent Carrie Paff. As for the play itself, I thought the structure and payoffs were clever. Unlike you, I enjoyed the intentionally bad plays-with-the-play.
Certainly opinions will vary between different productions, different nights and different observers.
#12Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/25/16 at 12:03am
quite possibly one of the worst productions/plays I've ever seen - with the exception of Glenne Hedley who was fantastic
I seldom write outright negative things but this play was awful. The writing was extremely amateurish and then it dawned on me that I had actually seen a Sarah Ruehl play years ago at Playwright Horizon - Dead Man's Cell Phone - which was awful. So on top of a terrible play, the production value was less than stellar - and shockingly disappointed that they couldn't cast up - I actually think this is one of those plays where if cast properly - and maybe with some star wattage (hello, this is LA) it actually would have been entertaining.
Didn't make it past intermission - literally couldn't take it anymore - and Veep was one so there's that.
tripelite
Chorus Member Joined: 12/28/10
#13Stage Kiss - Geffen
Posted: 4/25/16 at 1:33am
I was excited to see this play, as I like both Sarah Ruhl and Glenne Headly, but I was truly disappointed. As mentioned above, it's an attempted mix of Noises Off and Kiss Me Kate, and it's missing the charm and humor of both. Half of the play has the actors acting out bad plays, which could be used for comic effect, but in Stage Kiss, it quickly becomes tiresome. The whole story is somewhat preposterous, and while it garnered a few laughs, I felt that the show fell flat with the audience. Perhaps other productions have been better.
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