How good was that! As I was making my way out of the ATYP’s Studio 1 Theatre, this was my immediate and emphatic response to the ATYP’s current production, Anthony Skuse’s Australian premiere production of New York playwright Diana Son’s 1998 play STOP KISS.
From every angle one looks at, this show succeeds. The play is a wonderful piece of writing with intersecting storylines meeting to maximum impact.
In life, friendships develop and one never really knows how they will evolve. On one level, we are in the dark. In New York city, two women connect. Young and adventurous Sara meets the older, more conservative Callie through a friend. There is an instant rapport. Son’s starting point is their friendship. The playwright takes us on their journey, and where they end up, and what happens to them along the way, makes for one helluva story.
The hallmarks of the course that Skuse takes in bringing Son’s story to life is its flair and intensity. We feel every part of their journey. The play works on different levels,- on one level, it charts the most delicate of dances, and on another, the piece documents a dark story of unprovoked, ignorant violence and its shocking repercussions.
Skuse’s staging is excellent. The play’s eighty minutes goes by in a flash, with the action played out in a breakneck speed. A live band complements the action with a pulsating score. Extracts from popular songs, sung by Suzanne Pereira, comment eloquently on the action. Sara Swersky’s lighting sets the scenes well.
In the central roles, Olivia Stambouliah as Callie and Gabrielle Scawthorn give distinctive, highly charged performances. The supporting cast each give disciplined, well measured performances. As the two men in their lives, Aaron Tsinodos plays Callie’s on-off boyfriend George, and Ben McIvor plays Sara’s ex, Peter. Robert Jago is Detective Cole, in charge of the investigation into the assault, Kate Fraser is the nurse who looks after Sara’s care, and Suzanne Pereira plays Mrs Winsley.
This is a big jolt of a production. A joint ATYP and Unlikely Productions presentation of Diana Son’s STOP KISS opened at ATYP’s Studio 1 on Friday 7th November and runs until Sunday 22nd March.