About the Play:

Stop Kiss has become a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues, and Female/Female Scenes.

Stop Kiss is a full-length comedic drama by Diana Son. It focuses on the touching story of two young women who slowly discover that they might be falling in love. When their tentative first kiss provokes an act of violence, their lives are transformed in ways they couldn't have predicted. Stop Kiss is a poignant and funny play about the ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably.

Stop Kiss is a cutting-edge drama about what happens when two strangers, Callie and Sara, develop a strong bond that surprises them both. Callie is holding down a job as a radio traffic reporter when she meets Sara, a Midwesterner who, against her parents' wishes, has moved to the city to teach third-grade students in the Bronx. Both have boyfriends, but as they get to know each other, their shared experiences and sense of humour create a strong bond. The audience watches their friendship grow, eventually leading to a kiss – the center of this powerful drama – sets off a savage gay-bashing by a bystander. But the story only begins there, with a plot that takes a surprising journey. Not your normal Rom-Com, Stop Kiss is deeper, darker and funnier. Ben Brantley of The New York Times summed up the critical reaction to Diana Son's play Stop Kiss when he stated that it "generated the warmest advance word of mouth of any downtown production this season" and heralded it as a Barefoot in the Park for a new generation.

Stop Kiss premiered in 1998 at The Public Theater Off-Broadway in New York City, starring Sandra Oh, of Grey's Anatomy fame. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 3 female, 3 male

What people say:

"There's so much that is vital and exciting about Stop Kiss … you want to embrace this young author and cheer her on to other works … the writing on display here is funny and credible … you also will be charmed by its heartfelt characters and up-to-the-minute humor." — New York Daily News

"…irresistibly exciting … a sweet, sad, and enchantingly sincere play." — New York Times

"We are amazed how fast we have come to trust this new playwright, Diana Son. We depend upon her to respect the integrity of her unusually real, complicated female characters, and, in turn, her very smart and engaging new play…." — New York Newsday

"Something as thought provoking and ultimately moving as Stop Kiss is a joy to experience." — Star Ledger

"A poignant and funny play about the ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably." — Variety

About the Playwright:

Diana Son is a Korean-American playwright, her most notable play being Stop Kiss. Her plays plays have been produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Ensemble Studio Theatre; La Jolla Playhouse; The Public Theater; the Mark Taper Forum and the Soho Repertory Theatre. She is also a television producer and writer, for shows such as Law and Order: Criminal Intent; Southland and Blue Bloods. A graduate of NYU's dramatic literature program, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three sons.