Imagine for just a moment that the person you fell in love with, the person you just married, the person you intend to spend the rest of your life with has just had a personality change so different you are questioning them and your own sanity. Hold that thought.
It's love at first sight in Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss, the current offering at New Village Arts Theater. Delicia Turner Sonnenberg's deft directorial wand has put the scripts magic onto the stage. Esther Emery's abstract set may be reminiscent of cooing doves, garden arbors, and other symbols of love. The moving swirls form a wedding arch, an alcove, and more. Even the marital bed carries out the theme of love.
Within this ever-changing setting, Rita (Kristianne Kurner) meets Peter (Joshua Everett Johnson) at a dance. Soon after that, he goes to the bar she tends. And, as they say, the rest is history.
Kurner and Johnson have absolutely captured the essence of first love. From passionate kisses to giddy laughter, from a glance to looking on each other deeply...they are in love. Their passion leads quickly to the altar.
Peter's friend Taylor (Tim Parker) keeps Peter somewhat grounded.
Before the wedding, there is the obligatory meeting of the parents, a trauma faced by many of us. Both are worried about her parents' acceptance. Her parents, Doctor and Mrs. Boyle (Jack Missett and Kathryn Herbruck), are the stereotypical loving parents; she is quite motherly, and he has a take on humor that does not translate well between generations.
At the wedding, a stranger, an old man (Charlie Riendeau), sits to the side sipping champagne. He kisses the bride and soon departs. And thusly, the gentle love story takes twists and turns into a nightmare.
Kurner and Riendeau change gender and become the other's character. Her transition is absolutely astounding. She captures the essence of the old man, changing from a fun-loving, Dewar's drinking bartender to an embittered teetotaler. The honeymoon is a disaster, and she leaves her husband.
Soon we soon encounter the old man. Riendeau has many of the characteristics of Rita. He comes close to being her. It is an awkward relationship for both Peter and the old man.
The ensemble includes Don Evans, Li-Anne Rowswell, Carlos Darze, and Anyelid Meneses. They bring body to the story as dancers, waiters, wedding ceremony participants and other roles.
Prelude to a Kiss is at once a joyous celebration of young love and then a fantasy that becomes a search, a wonderment, and bit of fear. In life we change; the person we fell in love with becomes someone different. Our values may shift. In some, these changes, over the years, cause dissention and divorce. In others, these changes are just a set of new challenges in the run of our lives. Seldom, though, do these transitions happen within the moment of a kiss.
Prelude to a Kiss has a mostly romantic sound track designed by Tom Jones. Jason Bieber and Ashley Jenks create an effective lighting plot. Peter occasionally comments directly to the audience while others are on stage, offering the designers some challenges.
Director Sonnenberg's skills are seen throughout as her talented cast creates all the captivating illusions the playwright scripted.
