Review: PERFECTING THE KISS at Capital Fringe

Finally, here is a play where the most important person in a theatrical production is front and center. I am speaking of course of the stage manager (SM); you know, the one that keeps everything running smoothly from the first day of rehearsal through performance. Playwright Scott C. Sickles' hilarious play Perfecting the Kiss is a cross between a theatrical farce (think Noises Off) and a mockumentary film (think This is Spinal Tap.)

Helen McMillan (Helen McMillan) is a stage manager for Boxing Windows, a new play in two acts and over sixty scenes. They are preparing for a one-night-only performance. The director Edwina O'Halloran's (Mia Moreland) job is to deal with the playwright Harvest Carruthers' (Daniel Damiano) epic that he feels is perfect. The two actors in the play are the monotone Mike Porter (George Redner) and the over the top Buck Jackson (Patrick Harman) who hammers every line. The crucial same sex kiss is, at first, delivered quite awkwardly in rehearsal, but the more times they try it, the more passionate they become.

Then there is the question of whether George is gay or straight. There are also questions of whether or not our fearless SM Helen will win the affection of a certain someone in the show and if she will ever be appreciated for all of her work on the production. Did I mention the goal is to get Boxing Windows to a Fringe Festival? Who says art doesn't imitate life? There is more, but I can't tell you everything.

Director Paula D'Alessandris' staging reminds me of Michael Blaekemore's Tony Award-winning direction for Noises Off. The pacing is crisp and snappy, but you never feel like you're losing any of Sickles' tightly written script infused with plenty of theatre references.

Helen McMillan, as our heroine stage manager, makes all of us that do this kind of work for a living proud. She does what she has to do to get the job done. You feel like you would have done the same (maybe, after all, this is a farce). LOL.

George Redner and Patrick Harman as actors Mike Porter and Buck Jackson remind us all that there all kinds of people in show business, which always keeps it interesting.

Mia Moreland, as Director Edwina O'Halloran, gives the kind of even tempered performance that every director needs to see. Edwina works extremely well under pressure and knows how to handle egos of all sizes.

Daniel Damiano plays playwright Harvest Carruthers as the kind of tightly-wound and overprotective playwright that most directors want to strangle. In other words, his performance is spot on.

Perfecting the Kiss is the perfect theatre piece and one to definitely check out at Capital Fringe. Yeah. It's a Meisner thing.

Running Time: 70 minutes with no intermission.

Perfecting the Kiss has one more performance on July 28, 2018 at 1:30 pm at Violet - Arena Stage, Mead Center for American Theater, which is located at 1101 6th St. SW Washington, DC.

For tickets, click here. For all things Fringe, click here.

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