Stop Kiss

Leicester Square Theatre, London


***

Written by Diana Son

Directed by Noah James

Olivia Hunter  and Rae Brogan

Stop Kiss is a grim piece of theatre, charting the impact of a brutal hate crime committed against young New Yorker Sara, by a homophobe who spied her kissing girlfriend Callie on a Central Park bench. Written by Diana Son in 1998 and rarely performed in the UK, the play interweaves flashbacks of the burgeoning love between the two women with present day scenes addressing the aftermath of Sara’s beating.

Rae Brogan as infant school teacher Sara proves herself as a convincing and very versatile young actress. Her accent and her attitude are well maintained throughout and there is an electric tenderness of attractiveness around her that explains Callie’s growing love for her. Brogan manages the frequent switches from recovering coma victim to a vivacious pre-attack lover skilfully and is perhaps the main reason for seeing this production.

Olivia Hunter’s distraught Callie, on stage for nearly all of the play’s length, tackles a huge role, but never really breaks out of seeming to try too hard. Whilst her enthusiasm in the flashback scenes of petulant playful argument and flirting with Sara works well, her grief in the scenes that are set after the attack, lack gravitas. To be fair, such distress is a tall order for any performer to deliver well, however under the merciless scrutiny of a (very up-close) audience, anything less than a five-star portrayal of such agony, delivered by an actor at the top of their game, runs the risk of appearing flawed. Georgia Buchanan plays a stolid investigating cop and veteran Victoria Kempton puts in a sympathetic performance as an elderly witness to the beating. The two men in the cast, Jamael Westman and Seb Blunt whose characters have enjoyed relationships with Callie and Sara respectively, both put in performances that are frankly too wet behind the ears and almost detract from the professionalism of the production, though in their defence, both roles are poorly fleshed out by Son.

Noah James makes a competent directorial debut in Libertine Productions' first show,  but whilst the play’s message is still relevant and also strong, its writing and structure lack a similar strength. It becomes just too predictable, as the audience becomes accustomed to realising that the next emotive  flashback, or beep of the hospital cardiac monitor, is only likely to be a few minutes away. Stonewall have lent their support to this piece and if its argument moves you, then buy a ticket and cheer it on.

Runs to March 9th 2013 

Dick! - Review

Leicester Square Theatre, London


***

Written and directed by Stuart Saint





Miss Dusty O and Nathaniel Tapley

There was a spectacular opening on Leicester Square last night. No, it wasn’t the premiere of the Les Miserables movie, rather the intensely gothic made up mouth of Queen Runt, performed by Lucyelle Cliffe, firing off crude but witty obscenities at the audience of Dick!, this season's adult panto offering from the Leicester Square Theatre.

Stuart Saint has written and directed the show that is more inspired by young Whittington’s dick, than by his ultimate path to City Hall and the show’s plot, such as it is, has more holes in it than Dick’s ship the Leaky Vessel, upon which much of the action is set. Loaded with seasonally awful puns, saucy double entendres, as well as a generous helping of cheesy corn and some immaturely offensive filthy gags, there is something for everyone in this six handed romp.

The cast is a combination of seasoned performers and youthful talent. Leading the line is the wonderful drag queen Miss Dusty O, as Sofonda Cox, with a roving eye  for Dick’s manly charms. Cliffe’s evil Runt is a delightfully over the top baddy, out to thwart Dick’s ambitions. Nathaniel Tapley plays our hero’s cool sophisticated cat, with some of the evenings funniest lines enhanced by his sardonic delivery. Of the younger cast members, Rae Brogan stands out with a coquettish (cockettish?) performance as the delightfully named Alice Fitz-Nicely, a London streetwise gangsta kid who is the subject of Dick’s desire, whilst she herself is in pursuit of the key to unlock her chastity belt.

The show is bawdy, filthy and fun. Some of the jokes are hilarious (particularly when Runt, whilst pretending to be a tree, is used as a toilet)  some will offend and much of the plot is too shallow to float a canoe on, let alone the Leaky Vessel. Nonetheless, have a few drinks to loosen up the inhibitions, be prepared to be mercilessly picked on if you are in the first two rows, and enjoy one of the dirtiest Christmas nights in the West End.

Runs until 20 January