K-I-S-S-I-N-G
March 3,–April 2, 2023
A play by Lenelle Moïse
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
A co-production with the Front Porch Arts Collective
The Huntington
@ Calderwood/BCA
527 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02116
View the digital program book (coming soon!)
Show Synopsis:
Lala makes fine art on the back of pizza boxes. A sweet and sticky summer inspires her to romance Dani, a budding feminist – and Albert, his smooth-talking twin. What’s good? Love or lust? Either way, she’ll find her muse. Playwright and poet Lenelle Moïse returns to her hometown with a heart-opening story for fans of David Bowie, bell hooks, and fireworks by the Charles. The Front Porch Arts Collective hooks up with The Huntington for this highly anticipated co-production, directed by Dawn M. Simmons.
Cast and Crew:
Regan Sims
Lala
Regan Sims
Regan Sims Off Broadway: Bitter Greens (59E59) and The Beyonce (ART/NY). Regional: Three Sisters (Two River Theater); No Child… (Newton Theatre Company); Back to the Real (Crossroads Theatre Company); and Much Ado About Nothing (Thinkery&Verse).
Sharmarke Yusuf
Dani
Sharmarke Yusuf
Sharmarke Yusuf Regional: Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Lyric Stage Company); BLKS and People, Places & Things (SpeakEasy Stage).
Ivan Cecil Walks
Albert
Ivan Cecil Walks
Ivan C. Walks Regional: Passing Strange (Moonbox Productions, Elliot Norton Nomination), Winter’s Tale (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), and LORENA: A Tabloid Epic (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre).
Patrese D. McClain
Dot
Patrese D. McClain
Patrese D. McClain Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (The Huntington). Broadway tour of Jitney. Regional: Twilight (Syracuse Stage), Pipeline and Skeleton Crew (Actors Theatre), Short Shakes R&J (Chicago Shakes), The Mountaintop and Skeleton Crew (People’s Light), Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, and GeVa. Film: Widows, Captive State, BET’s Friend Request, and Workingman.
Bobby Cius
Neighbor; U/S Dani, Albert
Bobby Cius
Bobby Cius Regional: Pass Over (Speakeasy Stage), The Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company), Black Odyssey Boston (Central Square Theater), and Pipeline (WAM & Central Square Theater). TV: Pause with Sam Jay (HBO).
Thomika Bridwell
U/S Dot
Thomika Bridwell
Thomika Bridwell The Front Porch Arts Collective: Chicken and Biscuits. Regional: A Christmas Carol (Hanover Theater), BLKS (SpeakEasy Stage), A Midsummers Night Dream (Boston Theater Company), Miss You Like Hell (Company One/ART), Coriolanus and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Praxis Stage). IG: @QueenRegnant77 FB: ThomikaBridwell
Lenelle Moïse
Playwright
Lenelle Moïse
Lenelle Moïse The Huntington: seventh cohort of Huntington Playwriting Fellows. She wrote, composed and co-starred in the Off Broadway show Expatriate (Culture Project).
Dawn M. Simmons
Director
Dawn M. Simmons
Dawn M. Simmons Front Porch Arts Collective: Queens Girl In the World and The Three Musketeers. The Huntington: K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Regional: JAG Productions, Play On Shakespeare, The Hangar Theatre, WAM Theater, Lyric Stage Company, Central Square Theater, New Repertory Theatre, Gloucester Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Bad Habit Productions, New Exhibition Room, Boston Public Works, Fresh Ink Theatre, and Our Place Theatre Project.
Jason Ardizzone-West
Scenic Designer
Jason Ardizzone-West
Jason Ardizzone-West The Huntington: The Bluest Eye. Off-Broadway: Elyria (Atlantic); Wedding Band (TFNA); The Michaels, Illyria, Women of a Certain Age, What Did You Expect?, Hungry (The Public Theater); Uncle Vanya (Hunter Theatre Project, WNET 13 TV); Good Grief (The Vineyard). Regional: From the Mississippi Delta (Westport); Grace (Fords); Bliss (5th Avenue Theatre); School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Berkeley Rep); Once On This Island (Cincinnati Playhouse & Actor’s Theatre of Louisville); Uncle Vanya (Old Globe).
Jorge Arroyo
Lighting Designer
Jorge Arroyo
Jorge Arroyo Off Broadway: Whisper House (The Civilians); Southern Promises (Flea Theatre); Sawbones and The Diamond Eater (HERE Arts Center); and Marion Bridge (Urban Stages). Regional: Lend Me A Soprano (Alley Theater), Into the Woods and Charlotte’s Web (Arden Theater); Unspeakable (Apollo Theater); A Christmas Carol (Westport Country Playhouse); The Fantasticks (People’s Light and Theatre Company); The Garbologists (City Theater Company); When Aliens Fall From The Sky (ASU Gammage); Oklahoma! (Weston Playhouse); The Legend of Georgia McBride (Theatre Squared); and Maria, Regina D’Inghilterra (Odyssey Opera)
Misha Shields
Movement Consultant
Misha Shields
Misha Shields The Huntington: Witch, Yerma, Ripcord, A Doll’s House, Milk Like Sugar, and I Was Most Alive With You. Off Broadway: Baghdaddy (Chita Rivera Award nominee for Best Choreography, St. Luke’s Theatre); Wonderland (Atlantic Theater Company); Who’s Your Baghdaddy? Or How I Started the Iraq War (The Actor’s Temple); and The Orion Experience (XL Nightclub).
Hannah Tran
Co-Projection Designer
Hannah Tran
Hannah Tran Off Broadway: Long Day’s Journey into Night (Audible), The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre Company), Semblance (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional: Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, and Utah Shakespeare Festival. MFA Candidate at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. hannahtran.com
Gregory Geffrard
Intimacy Consultant
Gregory Geffrard
Gregory Geffrard The Huntington: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Regional: Choir Boy and Bald Sisters (Steppenwolf Theatre); Passage and Galileo’s Daughter (Remy Bumppo Theatre); The Color Purple (Signature Theatre); White Noise (Studio Theatre); and Boy (Philadelphia Theatre Company). University: Bat Boy, The Amateurs, and Detroit ‘67 (Columbia College Chicago); and Gloria and Votes for Women (Roosevelt University).