Woolly Mammoth's 37th Season to Continue with U.S. Premiere of KISS

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the second production of its 37th Season, the U.S. premiere of KISS by Guillermo Calderón, directed by Yury Urnov. KISS will run from October 10 - November 6, 2016.

A standing double-date quickly becomes a hilarious farce as four friends unburden their hearts and reveal their secret passions. But is anything really what it seems to be? An intense, furtive video chat with what might be an exiled author, living on the run while escaping persecution, slowly upends both their world and ours. Can we recover what's been lost in translation?

This U.S. premiere by "Chile's most acclaimed playwright-director of the last two decades" (LA Times) is a disquieting exploration of the limitations of art in grappling with the suffocating effects of an oppressive regime. Politically charged and emotionally urgent, it dares us to question whether we can truly understand other cultures...because just when we think we get KISS, it gets us instead.

Guillermo Calderón's plays have been produced and performed around the world. Calderón's first play as a writer, Neva, was a critical success, winning multiple awards, including Best Play of the Year in 2006 by the Art Critics Circle of Chile, three Altazor Awards in 2007 (including Best Director and Best Playwright), and the 2008 Jose Nuez Martin Award given by the Facultad de Letras Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (Catholic University of Chile). His more recent works include Villa and Speech. He also worked on the screenplay for Violeta (se fue a los cielos), Chile's 2012 entry for the Oscar Awards in the Foreign Film category. He is currently commissioned for a project with The Public Theater in New York City.

"KISS is about the seemingly insurmountable barriers to communicate and understand each other through technology, language, cultural difference, and war," says Woolly Mammoth Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. "KISS is also about the power of storytelling as a tool for learning, healing, and survival. As we watch the play unfold, we are drawn into a profound sense of empathy, not only with the actors, but with the victims of the tragedy they are responding to. It is a brilliant example of the way in which theatre can put us in the shoes of people who are very different from ourselves."

Company members Tim Getman and Gabriella Fernandez-Coffey, previously seen playing together in The Nether and in Gruesome Playground Injuries, reunite on the Woolly stage as Ahmed and Bana. Also joining them will be new Woolly company member Shannon Dorsey, as Hadeel, who returns to the Woolly Stage after her critically-acclaimed performance as Minnie in An Octoroon. Joe Mallon (Youssif), Lelia Tahaburt (Woman), and Ahmad Kamal (Interpreter) round out the cast.

Company members Yury Urnov (director) and Misha Kachman (set and costume designer) lead the production team. KISS will be their first collaboration since Woolly's 2014 hit Marie Antoinette. The team also includes Jimmy Garver (sound design) and Max Doolittle (lights).

More information about Woolly's 37th Season can be found at woollymammoth.net.

KISS runs October 10 to November 6, 2016, with performances: Wednesday-Friday at 8 pm (except Tuesday, October 18 at 8 pm in lieu of Wednesday, October 19); Saturday at 3 pm and 8 pm (Saturday, October 15 at 8 pm only and Saturday, October 22 at 3pm only); and Sunday at 2 pm and 7 pm (Sunday, October 16 at 7 pm only). Monday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 11 will be Pay What You Can performances, which will begin at 8 pm.

Tickets to KISS start at $35 and can be purchased online at woollymammoth.net, by phone at (202) 393-3939, via email at tickets@woollymammoth.net, or in person at the Box Office, located at 641 D Street NW.

Patrons who are 30-years-old and younger may, at any time, purchase Section B tickets for $20 to any performance. There are also discounts available for educators, first responder men and women and active US military personnel, spouses, and veterans. More information is available at woollymammoth.net.

Now in its 37th Season, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at the leading edge of American theatre. Acknowledged as "one of the most influential outposts for the best new American plays" (The Washington Post) and "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), Woolly Mammoth is a national leader in the development of new works and one of the best known and most influential mid-sized theatres in America.