Theater veteran Dawn Ursula has had many roles over her 17-year-career as an actress, but none have required as much kissing as her current part in Round House Theatre’s Stage Kiss.
“I’ve had to do some stage kisses but not a whole lot in the way that this show is talking about,” the Helen Hayes Award-winning actress said. “There were moments in rehearsal where I had giggling fits. I’m like, I feel like a 13-year-old girl.”
That strange job requirement of actors—to kiss each other and pretend to be in love—is the inspiration for Stage Kiss by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl. Directed by Aaron Posner, it opens Wednesday at Round House in Bethesda. The comedy is about an actress, played by Ursula, who is cast in a show about a dying woman whose last wish is to kiss her former lover. To her surprise, the part of her former lover is played by her actual former lover. Although they’re both married, the kisses they share on stage rekindle their real-life romance.
“Everything gets stirred back up again and they fall in love,” Ursula said.
For the characters in the play, onstage romance leads to passion offstage. But that wasn’t the case for Ursula and her leading man, played by Gregory Wooddell. In rehearsals, the two talked about their roles and the idea that actors kissing and acting like they're in love could lead to some awkward feelings.
“Sometimes [a stage kiss] can be very unromantic because it’s very technical. But the parts of your mind and your spirit and your body are the same parts that you use when you are being intimate. Luckily, Greg is happily married and I’m happily married,” Ursula said. “We were like, this is kind of weird. This is our job. We’re going to do it well, so we can sell it well, but in every other interaction we have I’m going to let you know I’m OK. There’s nothing going on here.”
There's actually a lot going on in Stage Kiss, which uses its play-within-a-play structure to explore and satirize the nature of love and romance, acting and theater, reality and pretend, in the witty, smart and fresh voice for which Ruhl has become known.
“It’s putting a magnifying glass up to this theater business we’re in," Ursula said. "It’s like a treat within a treat within a treat. It’s full of surprises. It’s really poignant in certain moments. It’s fresh and surprising in ways that you wouldn’t expect.”
Stage Kiss runs through Dec. 27 at Round House Theatre, tickets start at $30, www.roundhousetheatre.org
T.I. to perform at The Fillmore Silver Spring
Triple-threat rapper, actor and reality TV star T.I. is set to perform Friday at The Fillmore Silver Spring. The three-time Grammy Award winner this year released a five-track EP and is set to release his 10th full-length album, The Dime Trap. Aside from his music career, which also includes working with artists such as Robin Thicke and Iggy Azalea, the Atlanta native is busy with the fifth season of his VH1 reality show T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle and recently appeared in blockbuster movies Ant-Man, Get Hard and Entourage.
8 p.m. Friday, The Fillmore Silver Spring, $55, www.fillmoresilverpring.com
Fantasia comes to Strathmore for an Elegant Evening
American Idol Season Three winner Fantasia Barrino comes to The Music Center at Strathmore on Saturday for a concert benefitting Talking Hands Incorporated, a Maryland nonprofit that provides support and resources to children with special needs. The event, called An Elegant Evening of Giving, features the Grammy-winning soul singer, as well as a performance by electric violinist Ken Ford and an awards ceremony honoring community members.
7 p.m., Saturday, The Music Center at Strathmore, $60-$80, www.strathmore.org
Fiber art exhibition opening reception this weekend
Artists & Makers Studios will hold an opening reception 6 to 9 p.m. Friday for its current exhibit Art to Wear, which features felted, stitched and embroidered scarves, jackets, belts, jewelry and other handcrafted pieces by members of the Potomac Fiber Arts Guild. The guild is a nonprofit that promotes and conducts educational programs about fiber arts, such as weaving, spinning and knitting. Pieces will be on display throughout the Rockville galleries. Items are available to buy right off the gallery walls and new items will be displayed as space opens up.
Art to Wear runs through Dec. 22, www.artistsandmakersstudios.com
