McKenna Coskie and Jaren Schoustra in “Stop Kiss" at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre -- June 9 through 18.
Friday, June 9, through Sunday, June 18
Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Avenue, Moline IL
Praised by the New York Times as "irresistibly exciting" as well as "sweet, sad, and enchantingly sincere," author Diana Son's critically acclaimed Stop Kiss serves as the latest presentation in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Barn Owl Series, its Moline run from June 9 through 18 sure to demonstrate why NY Newsday lauded Son's "unusually real, complicated female characters" and "her very smart and engaging new play."
In Stop Kiss, Sara and Callie are walking through New York City's West Village very late at night when they share their first kisses. This innocent act, however, leads to a vicious attack by an angry bystander (not shown on stage) in which Sara is horribly injured. She consequently falls into a coma, while Callie's good friend George tries to assist with the situation, even though there is little he can do to help. Meanwhile, Peter, Sara's ex-boyfriend from St. Louis, comes to help nurse Sara back to health, and throughout Son's wise and moving stage piece, relationships are explored, formed, and even ended as the author elaborates on the depths of human emotion and compassion. Variety magazine described this 1999 theatrical achievement as "a poignant and funny play about the ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably," with the Star-Ledger stating that "something as thought provoking and ultimately moving as Stop Kiss is a joy to experience.”
Directing Stop Kiss for Playcrafters is Erika Seabloom, a veteran of last season's A Murder Is Announced at the venue who also appeared in Genesius Guild's A Midsummer Night's Dream and, at her alma mater of St. Ambrose University, performed in productions of An Enemy of the People and Honk Jr. in addition to directing 2021's Admissions. Jaren Schoustra, a castmate in St. Ambrose's The Shape of Things, portrays Callie opposite McKenna Coskie, who plays Sara in her Playcrafters debut. Completing Seabloom's gifted cast are a quartet of familiar area performers: Drew DeKeyrel (the Black Box Theatre's All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914), Rishem Bhogal (Quad City Music Guild's Rent), Mattie Gelaude (Playcrafters' 12 Angry Jurors), and Cynthia Taylor (director of the Moline theatre's The Boxcar Children, The Wolves, and And Then There Were None).
Mel Maylum acts as the show's stage manager, with Playcrafters veteran Madison Duling as its producer. And with the Stop Kiss poster design by Katie Newport, additional members of Seabloom's creative team include prop master Milo Houdyshell, costume designer Bailey Hager, lighting designer Riley Scranton, sound designer Cynthia Taylor, and set builder Steve Seabloom.
Stop Kiss makes its Moline debut from June 9 through 18, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Admission is $13-15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-0330 and visiting Playcrafters.com.
