Stage Kiss

by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Jessica Thebus
originally produced at Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL.
April 30, 2011 through June 5, 2011

About the Premiere Production:

In this quirky new comedy by MacArthur “Genius” Award-winner Sarah Ruhl, art imitates life—or is it the other way around? When ex-lovers HE and SHE are thrown together as romantic leads in an outrageously dreadful melodrama, they quickly lose touch with reality as the story onstage begins to follow them offstage. Stage Kiss is a hilarious, off-beat fairy-tale about what happens when lovers share a stage kiss—or when actors share a real one…

What this grant has allowed us to do:

At the heart of the Goodman is our commitment to the development of new plays for the American theater. The Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award supports that commitment through Sarah’s commission—our third consecutive commission in three seasons to female playwrights, following Rebecca Gilman’s A True History of the Johnstown Flood and Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Ruined. With this grant we continue our support of one of America’s most distinctive theatrical voices.

Artistic Statement

From Artistic Director Robert Falls
"Sarah Ruhl is one of the most exciting American playwrights working today. Her sharply intelligent wit and distinctive voice endow her plays with an unusual blend of human complexity and humor," said Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls. "With Stage Kiss, Goodman Theatre audiences will fall in love all over again with her contemporary, distinctive voice as Sarah draws them into each individual moment played out on stage."

Creative Team:

Director: Jessica Thebus