Last week, California's decision to pass Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state, came as a shock to many Americans. With Prop 8's success came an unfortunate reminder that homophobia remains a salient force in our nation.
Tonight, the Dartmouth theater department's Fall term Mainstage production "Stop Kiss" -- a play that explores love's existence in the shadow of hate -- will begin its run.
"Stop Kiss" tells the story of two women, Callie and Sara, played by Courtney Davis '09 and Victoria Toumanoff '09, as friends who tentatively realize that they share a romantic attraction to one another. At the most promising moment of their budding relationship, a horrifying act of violence stops them in their tracks.
Written in 1998 by emerging playwright Diana Son, "Stop Kiss" risks classification as an outdated and angsty tale of violence faced by gay couples. Considering the recent success of Prop 8, however, the plot is a highly relevant exploration of a homophobic reality.
The persistence of gay marriage as an issue in our country's political discourse was an important aspect in theater professor Jamie Horton's choice to bring "Stop Kiss" to Dartmouth.
"I find it interesting that there is still in our culture so much resistance to same-sex coupling," said Horton, who directs the production.
"The fundamental issue behind Prop 8 is that people are seeing labels rather than individuals," said Davis, who also acted in the Mainstage production of "Hair" last Fall term.
"Hopefully this piece will allow all audience members to relateto the characters as people, not as ideas," she said.
Horton cautions against losing the human elements -- the characters and their relationships -- in the play's political agenda.
"Son has written a play about two people who fall in love," Horton explained. "It's not a political play. That's just a backdrop for the story."
The richly imagined and endearing characters at the center of the story were an important aspect that touched Horton on his first reading of the play. It was, in part, these characters that attracted Horton to "Stop Kiss."
"When I first read the play, I really responded to the relationships between the characters," he said.
Another aspect that intrigued the director was Son's use of an innovative narrative structure that, according to Horton, adds to the pathos that the audience feels for the characters. Instead of following a linear chronology, the plot alternates between two time lines: the beginning of the relationship and the events following the attack.
This structure creates a slew of challenges that the entire production team, actors included, must work to address. In order for the audience to remain engaged, the play's 22 transitions must flow smoothly.
Every step by both the actors and the set crew during these transitions must be deliberate and swift, especially when it comes to the freakishly fast costume changes on the part of the two leads.
"There are a lot of costume changes," Toumanoff explained. "That means that all us actors are backstage running around to get out of and into clothes and into our next positions, and then we have only a second or two to compose ourselves before entering the scene," she said.
These difficulties were a top priority for Horton in the realization of Son's script, and the effects are manifest in every aspect of the play, including the set design, sound design and lighting.
"The play is extremely difficult technically," said Toumanoff.
"It means that there is absolutely no time to get bored backstage -- every moment is crucial," she said.
Consider the set by guest designer Judy Gailen, who currently teaches in the theater department at Bowdoin College. The two primary scene locations, an apartment and a hospital room, melt together on stage, linking the two time lines.
This link not only helps the set crew to make quick scene changes, but also helps the audience to remember the connection between events before and after the attack.
The difficulties found in "Stop Kiss" make this fall's Mainstage production quite different from last Winter term's "Julius Caesar," the last show directed by Horton. The two plays also vary hugely in terms of size: Whereas "Caesar" had a cast of 42, this play features a cast of only seven.
For Horton, the smaller, more intimate cast came as a refreshing change.
"It's been really nice to concentrate on the relationships with and between the individual actors," he said.
Don't be deceived by the seemingly small scale of the production, however. What appears on the surface to be a simple love story promises to be every bit as epic as "Caesar," according to Horton.
The weighty questions raised in the play will be addressed in two post-performance discussion sessions.
The first, following this Friday's show, will be a discussion with the cast and crew of the production.
At the second discussion, which will place following the performance on Thursday, Nov. 20, a panel comprised of both students and faculty will discuss the issues of sexual identity and tolerance at Dartmouth.
"Stop Kiss" premieres tonight at 8 p.m. in the Moore Theater of the Hopkins Center for the Arts and continues its seven-performance run through next weekend. Tickets, available at the Hop Box Office, are $3 for Dartmouth students, $6 for all other students and $12 for the public.
