“Stop Kiss” looks to serve a larger purpose than what may be on the surface, according to its director Gina Neuerer.
“I love that we do Shakespeare; that we do classic Greek, I love what we usually do. But we hadn’t been attacking contemporary issues,” Neuerer said. “So, if we’re not doing contemporary issues, how do we get contemporary people to come to our show? How do we get the students to come to our show?”
Neuerer said before the season began she read approximately 50 contemporary plays until she found the right one.
“Of all the scripts that I’d read, (“Stop Kiss”) touched me. This was a love story. This is two people who fall in love and decide to take a chance in their life,” Neuerer said. “I think that all of us today, are dealing with self-identity issues… and within this play, these women are trying to decide, ‘Who am I? What do I want? Do I like my job? Do I like my relationships? Do I like where I am in my life?’ Sound familiar?”
“Stop Kiss” was written by American playwright Diana Son in 1998, who’s known for her work on “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”
The play is also Neuerer’s directorial debut, something she has wanted to do for a long time.
“For me it’s the whole putting it together,” said Neuerer, who currently is the interim Chair of Theatre and Dance department. “Someone who stands back and gets a view of the whole process.”
The Sinclair exclusive cast includes Brittany Hackett, a theatre performance major, who will be playing Sara.
“The rehearsal process has been really intimate because the script is very realistic,” Hackett said.
The issues that are portrayed in the play is what made Hackett jump at the opportunity to be in it, she said.
“I always felt really strongly that theatre is a place where you really can explore contemporary issues, you know, put it all out there and let people decide what they think about it,” Hackett said. “I don’t want to entertain audiences, I want to make them think and make them feel.”
Neuerer hopes the play affects the audience in a way that would change the way they view the world.
“This is an important step for this department to do a contemporary piece of theatre that will talk to contemporary audiences and hopefully change some people’s lives. Because that’s what’s important to Diane Son; that our lives are constantly changing,” Neuerer said.