“The History of Kisses,” at Studio Theatre, is a tribute to the power of the spoken word. Written, performed and directed by David Cale, the one-act play tells the story of James, a writer who has left his home in northern England, migrated to New York and on to Southern California. He spends time in a motel by the sea in order to finish a book of erotic stories that take place by the ocean.
Luciana Stecconi’s set for “The History of Kisses” is extremely simple. A low lifeguard’s chair stands in the center of a sand-covered stage. James is alone onstage, narrating his work.
| Onstage |
| ‘The History of Kisses’ |
| Where: Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW |
| When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays; 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Through July 3 |
| Info: $44 to $65, 202-332-3300, studiotheatre.org |
The stories are “told” as James conjures up other peoples’ lives. The first is the story of Lisa, James’ best friend in New York. As James talks, he becomes Lisa, narrating her trip to Portugal after a disastrous marriage. Walking along the beach, Lisa passes a Portuguese man and shares a night of passion with him on a fishing boat. Cale subtly but vividly makes the stranger’s look, the smell of sardines, the feeling of fishnets and Lisa’s voice and emotions come alive.
In another story of sexual awakening, James becomes a woman who falls asleep on an airplane next to a man she doesn’t know. When she and the man disembark, they spend a blissful weekend together. For different reasons, in the past they both have been told that they are sexually unappealing. But in James’ story, they suit and satisfy one another totally.
One story borders on the fantastical and is probably intended to be taken that way. A man runs into Judy Garland; they share a drink and stories and an evening on the beach. One funny story involves Craig, the Australian sexual athlete and motel front desk clerk. Craig is also the person who delivers the evening’s most profound narrative, which has to do with the ocean not as a metaphor for sexuality but as a vision of elemental, electrifying nature itself.
Beverly Emmons’ lighting helps move the play from scene to scene, subtly changing the time of day or the cast of the sun.
There is minor unevenness in “The History of Kisses” since some of the offerings are not as gripping as others. But as James’ unique and well-fashioned characters reveal themselves, they imply a singular conclusion: that — without being overly romantic or idealistic — new, reinvigorated life happens as surely as the tides roll in.
That renaissance is captured by a character who sings in one of the play’s many sea shanties: “Oh that song that you’ve been singing/Has a worn-out melody. … There’s a new song/Here at last!”
