Sarah Ruhl Returns to Chicago with Stage Kiss

Apr 11, 2011
Stage Kiss

What happens on stage may not stay on stage when Sarah Ruhl returns to Goodman Theatre with the world premiere of her romantic fantasy, Stage Kiss. Chicago director and long-time Ruhl collaborator Jessica Thebus directs this human exploration of love, nostalgia and commitment with a cast including Jenny Bacon and Mark L. Montgomery. Stage Kiss, Ruhl's third production at the Goodman following The Clean House (2006) and Passion Play: a cycle in three parts (2007), is her first Goodman commission-the result of a two-year development process of workshops and readings and part of the theater's commitment to generate and support new American plays. Stage Kiss begins previews April 30 (Opening Night is May 9) and runs through June 5, 2011 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre; tickets are $25 - $78 (prices subject to change).

"Sarah is one of the singularly gifted voices in the contemporary American theater," said Artistic Director Robert Falls about the Chicago native playwright whose copious body of work includes three productions currently running in her home-town. "With intelligence and wit, she takes her audience on a delightful and moving journey, exploring the often tenuous grasp that we all have on our own identities. It is a privilege to have commissioned a new piece from this prolific playwright and I could not be more thrilled to have her back at the Goodman."

"As a playwright, it's so rare to find an artistic venue to call home and I feel lucky to have my third play done at the Goodman," said playwright Sarah Ruhl. "I am fascinated by that 'great lie of the theater;' of pretending to be something you're not in front of other people who are watching. I find that wonderfully rich and strange." Adds director Jessica Thebus, "This play is a pleasure-sexy, funny, irreverent and silly in a way that is completely joyful. It is about the heart, and the dance the heart does when we are drawn to, or away from another person."

Tickets to Stage Kiss ($25 - $78) are currently on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org. Tickets and subscriptions can also be purchased at the box office (170 North Dearborn) or by phone at 312.443.3800.