Stage Kiss

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About the Show

Two actors’ rehearsals blur past and present in Sarah Ruhl’s UK premiere romantic comedy.

In 1930s New York, Ada is dying, and her long-lost love has returned from Europe for one final embrace. The story shifts to 2011 New Haven, where these events are being rehearsed for the forgotten melodrama The Last Kiss. As rehearsals progress, the lines between performance and reality blur, revealing that the lead actors themselves share a complex romantic history that mirrors the play within the play.

Stage Kiss marks the UK premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist work, following its acclaimed 2014 run in New York. The play explores themes of love, memory, and the interplay between life and performance, blending period melodrama with contemporary backstage drama.

The production is directed by Blanche McIntyre, whose previous credits include The Assembled Parties, Apex Predator, and the record-breaking The Invention of Love.

Critic Reviews (9)

"The result merits less a kiss than a polite peck on the cheek."
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"Sarah Ruhl's amusing but lightweight romantic backstage comedy...entertaining enough, despite an almost complete lack of sexual chemistry between the leads"
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"Amusing but lightweight backstage comedy"
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"Slight, sweet comedy about actors in love"
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"Stage Kiss is going to tickle the funny bones for anyone who has any sort of love for theatre - whether they have ever been on stage themselves, backstage in any capacity, or simply loves to reside in the audience."
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"It's a big-hearted, funny production."
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"Robert Innes Hopkins’ set deals deftly with all the shiftiness, hopping between rehearsal room, stage and He’s flat but also, thanks to revolving set pieces, placing us on both sides of the proscenium arch."
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"Behind-the-scenes romcom is charming but slippery"
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