of K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Photos by T Charles Erickson
‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G’ – Written by Lenelle Moïse. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Scenic Design by Jason Ardizzone-West. Costume Design by Dominique Fawn Hill. Lighting Design by Jorge Arroyo. Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Projections Design by Yee Eun Nam and Hannah Tran. Co-produced by the Front Porch Arts Collective and the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, Boston through April 2, 2023.
by Linda Chin
The coming-of-age play now making its world premiere at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion did not come into being from a hurried hook-up, nor inexperienced young people sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. A decade in the making, Lenelle Moïse wrote early drafts during her 2012-2014 Huntington Playwrighting Fellowship, and its development history went something like the titular schoolyard rhyme: First came love – in the form of a commission by Clark University, staged readings at the New Rep and Huntington in 2015 and 2016, and an educational production at Ithaca College (2018). Then came ‘marriage’ – a three-year strategic partnership between Front Porch Arts Collective and the Huntington that started in the fall of 2021, connected Moïse and Porch’s Co-Producing Artistic Directors Maurice Emmanuel Parent and Dawn M. Simmons and catalyzed the companies’ first co-production. A tree growing in Boston has blossomed and borne the loveliest, sweetest fruit. Welcome to the world, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
Infused with the playwright’s memories of growing up in Cambridge, K-I-S-S-I-N-G tells the story of fifteen-year-old Lala (an expressive and ebullient Regan Sims) who lives in the Boston exurb Height Bridge with her single mother Dot (a regal Patrese D. McClain) and her little brother Max (unseen on stage). On top of her “typical” teenage high schooler responsibilities, Lala’s busy schedule includes “mothering” her mom (who insists on being addressed as Ma’am) and brother, and weekly check-ins with her dad, Jack (the mellifluous James Ricardo Milord). In their housing community, the family members struggle to fend for themselves, though there is a compassionate neighbor (played by actor Bobby Cius, who like Moïse is a Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School alum) who supports Dot in the opening and final scenes. Lala doesn’t socialize much with friends her age; she prefers to create detailed drawings in her sketchbook. And she’s never been kissed.
Life changes when Lala meets two twin brothers who are also Black but have grown up with socioeconomic circumstances vastly different from her own – they go to prep school, drive fancy cars, live in a big house and their rooms are cleaned by a housekeeper. Convincingly portrayed by charismatic Sharmarke Yusuf and Ivan Cecil Walks, Dani, and Albert have vastly different interests from one another. Stanford-bound Dani likes to discuss art and reads the newspaper daily; less academically inclined but more educated in ways of the world, Albert enjoys showing off his eye-popping dance moves and making the moves on attractive young women. The brothers do share a common interest – Lala.
Director Dawn M. Simmons guides the way the narrative unfolds and the actors unpeel their multi-layered characters with a clear vision and elegant hand. The play’s overall pacing, and the timing in the dramatic and comedic scenes – in each beat – do justice to playwright (and poet) Lenelle Moïse’s rhythmic and lyrical writing style. Superlative scenic, costume, lighting, sound, and projection design by Jason Ardizzone-West, Dominique Fawn Hill, Jorge Arroyo, and Anna Drummond contribute to the seamless storytelling, and make this breathtakingly beautiful production an engaging and fully immersive treat for the senses.
Like sitting under the stars in a grand tree with someone who gets you, K-I-S-S-I-N-G is an experience to be savored and shared. Like a wonderful first kiss with someone who wants you, I didn’t want it to end (and would happily go back for more). Audiences can experience this labor of love through April 2, 2023. For tickets and more information, go to: https://www.huntingtontheatre.org/
