THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409140107
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: MONTAGUE GAMMON III
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
What a curious little play ``Prelude to a Kiss'' is!
One part love story, one part meditation on the horrors of a failed marriage, one part New Age thriller, with a tangential comment upon parent-child relationships, the script is never clear about just what it wants to be.
The Little Theatre of Norfolk calls it a ``romantic fantasy.''
The element of the fantastic is certainly strong, for the premise is an exchange of personalities between a young woman and a character called Old Man. That is, he suddenly finds that he inhabits her body, and vice versa.
The play begins with a charming courtship of two young singles, Peter and Rita. Act One depicts their six-week progression from lively lust to true love.
At their wedding reception she is kissed by an elderly stranger who has wandered into the gathering. The shift of souls takes place with the kiss. The impending honeymoon presents a raft of funny possibilities, but playwright Craig Lucas has shied away from this bawdy and probably tasteless route to broad comedy.
Neither has he gone beyond a superficial examination of ``just how far love can transcend'' the impediments of a spouse's changing personality or appearance. Only occasionally does he hint at the parallels between the supernaturally abrupt change and the natural, gradual alterations with which time challenges all couples.
The play instead concentrates upon Peter's attempt to figure out why his wife is suddenly so very different from the girl with whom he fell in love. Of course, that's a comment about the very institution of marriage, but it's hardly an original observation.
Once Peter has figured out what happened, the story becomes a suspense tale. Will Peter be able to reunite his wife's body with her soul before time runs out?
This production is especially effective at creating and maintaining that suspense, so it wouldn't be fair even to hint at the ending.
The performance of Ashley Hale King, as Rita, is another high point. She depicts the flirtatious, energetic, bright and adventurous young woman with pinpoint detail, then subtly but unmistakably delineates the different character of the inhabited Rita. King's performance is marked by the understated excellence of real ability.
Mark S. Haynie is another able actor, but understatement is very far from his caricature of the cliched infirmities of old age. He'll get lots of applause from people who think that acting is good in proportion to the degree of effort the actor displays, but he and director Leslie Draper have enough experience to know better.
Draper does deserve compliments for the coherence, tone and pace of the entire show, for making the unlikely premise easily acceptable, for the deft manipulation of the suspenseful elements, and especially for the tenderness shining through all the scenes between Peter and Rita.
Peter is played by Phil Whitehead. He's likable and young, he's earnest and he looks good with his shirt off. That's pretty much all the play asks him to be.
Other cast members are Frank McCaffery as Rita's dull and platitudinous father, and Arlene Alonso as her lively mother, with Dan Crews, Carlos Fernandez, Marisa Marsey and Jose L. Meredith making brief appearances.
The production makes good use of a sensible, simple and flexible set designed by Draper.
Question remain. Is this play thought provoking, or just puzzling, or is it merely a bit of frivolity that shouldn't be burdened with too much meaning? by CNB