Sydney Reviews

The show that should be on everybody’s lips is New Theatre’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss.

Pucker up for a riotous romp as Ada Wilcox makes a return to the stage after an absence of many years. She has been dutifully raising her daughter along with her devoted banker husband but now has the urge to be back treading the boards.

The play begins with her auditioning for a director and his precious and precocious protegé, an hilarious opening scene that’s worth the price of admission. The read, the indecisive direction and the awkwardness of the stage kiss conspire to create a catastrophic tryout. Of course, she’s hired. The awkwardness is amplified when she discovers her co-star is an ex-lover. Will the stage kiss capsize the production or will it rekindle a dormant desire?

Ruhl’s script offers a rich vein of comic gold and director Alice Livingstone mines it for all its considerable worth, producing a mother-lode of laughs. And with that avalanche of laughs comes legitimate poignancy, a supple and subtle balancing act of the screwball and the sincere.

Emma Delle-Vedove delivers a stellar turn as Ada: textured, layered, dynamic, in a portrayal that burrows into the heart by way of fondling the funny bone. Jason Spindlow as her former paramour and current co-star, Johnny Lowell, combines the laddish, the caddish, the cavalier with matching comedic flair.

In a welcome return to the stage after an absence that mirrors his stage spouse, Lynden Jones as Ada’s husband is heartwarmingly, heartbreakingly steadfast, funny and sad, with a finely tuned pathos partnered with pinpoint comedy timing. Nicholas Papademetriou is deliriously on point as the theatre director in a portrayal that could have caved to caricature but surfaces as buoyant character, a simmering flamboyance underpinning a fragile authority.

Frank Shanahan as the director’s protegé is an exquisite exaggeration of acting methods and techniques, giving hysterical physicality to the term “suck face”, a Limpet mine lip locker targeting teeth, tongue and tonsils. Nicola Denton as Ada’s daughter and Victoria Fowler as Johnny’s jilted girlfriend give generous support in a splendidly consistent and well-rounded cast.

There’s a palpable playfulness to these performances, disciplined, drilled and delightful. There’s fire, bite and fun and lots of kissing, passionate and punishing, a panoply of pecking.

Not only has Alice Livingstone cast well, she has mustered a cohort of creatives that bring added depth to the production with set designer Merle Leuschner, Costume Designer Bianca De Nicola, and Lighting Designer Holly Nesbitt bringing their immeasurable skills.

Hugs and kisses for this production of Stage Kiss, an intelligent and addictive entertainment awash with oxytocins. It’s a kiss that should be on your list.