Review: "Stage Kiss" at Hampstead Theatre

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A splashy, uninteresting UK premiere.

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Art imitates life, and life imitates art in Sarah Ruhl ’s 2014 play Stage Kiss . When two ex-lovers are cast in the same show, their on-stage relationship bleeds into their off-stage one, and vice versa. The weight of their baggage threatens to ruin their relationships, but Ruhl is excessively compassionate and wholly unoriginal.

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As Hollywood power-couples plaster our tabloids daily, this is an uncomplicated, easy, unchallenging comedy for the easily pleased that borders on the bland, bloviating, and boring. Not only it’s too melodramatic for what it is, but it also contains so much surplus material that its two-hours-ten-including-an-interval could be streamlined into a 90-minute-straight-through by a dramaturg.

Blanche McIntyre ’s direction is pleasant and smooth. It leverages the parodic and farcical tone in the script to keep it lighthearted, highlighting the sizzling parts of Ruhl’s dialogue. In doing so, though, we lose most of the emotional lining of the plot. Patrick Kennedy and MyAnna Buring ’s unnamed couple (“He” and “She”) share an intriguing chemistry. She’s really funny, and he’s rather uptight in his displays of emotion.

There’s an endearing push and pull there. The instant acrimony between them sets us up for a quick and predictable rollercoaster that features fragile egos and a bit of drama theory. Still, Ruhl opts for the simple path, extending the jokes past their welcome and forgoing any kind of psychological investigation.

The duo's immature and volatile personalities echo in the rest of the characters. The result is a mix of stereotypes and hyper-Americanism. There are, however, a handful of excellent performances that stand out regardless of the irritating nature of the portrayals. Toto Bruin excels as Angela, an impertinent, brash, mouthy teenager, while Rolf Saxon is the clueless director with dubious taste.

“Tonally, it’s very slippery,” the latter explains whilst auditioning "She". So is this production. And not in a good way. The meta-theatrical edge is amusing, to an extent, just like the slapstick vein of Saxon’s character, but it’s all too overstretched. The gags are repetitive, becoming wearisome by the time they come back in a different formula. An example is the rehearsal scenes, which go in circles and become increasingly self-indulgent.

By the end, an overarching sense of misogyny has taken hold as well. While her husband ( Oliver Dimsdale , exquisitely frustrating and petulant in his portrayal) is bridging the gap between him and “She”, “She” mentions how his numerical inclinations and introverted attitude clash with her histrionics. “I can be quiet,” she says, adamant to change in order to keep her marriage intact. It’s trivial, but it puts pressure on a bruise that’s been developing.

Ultimately, it’s a silly comedy that comes off very old-school and uninspired. The direction tries to forgive the missteps in the writing, but the length of the piece weighs it down. It plays by the Ruhl-s too much to be of any impact.

Stage Kiss runs at Hampstead Theatre until 13 June.

Photography by Helen Murray

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Review-STAGE-KISS-Hampstead-Theatre-20260515)._