Theatre Smash & ARC present the Canadian Premiere of KISS by Guillermo Calderón

Theatre Smash, ARC and Canadian Stage are proud to join forces to present the Canadian premiere of KISS by internationally-acclaimed Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón (screenwriter, Neruda). Directed by Ashlie Corcoran(Artistic Director, Theatre Smash) with Associate Director Christopher Stanton (Artistic Producer, ARC), KISS will be on stage from March 28 to April 16 at the intimate Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre. A Theatre Smash and ARC production in partnership with Canadian Stage.

"I am driven by questions of authenticity, interpretation and accessibility when bringing international work to Canada," said director and Theatre Smash Artistic Producer Ashlie Corcoran, who has introduced such acclaimed international works as Das Ding (The Thing), The Ugly One and Durango to Toronto audiences. "In KISS, Calderón examines how we grapple with our limitations as artists when exploring a situation that is culturally removed from us, while concurrently arguing for the emotional strength of theatre."

"Kiss is an essential play, a necessary play. It is a rare opportunity to delve into experiences of sameness and difference and examine the ever-transient world we live in today," said Canadian Stage Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn. "We are delighted to be collaborating with Theatre Smash in its second year of residency, and with partner-company ARC, to share this deeply thoughtful and highly unexpected portrait of creation in troubled times."

Two couples meet for dinner to take their minds off the war raging around them. A secret profession of love, an untimely proposal, and one kiss later, one of the foursome lies dead on the floor. What sets out as a Syrian melodrama quickly takes an unexpected turn -is anything really what it appears to be? Intersecting the personal, political and theatrical, KISS breaks open cultural barriers, challenging us to confront the limits of our own understanding.

Commissioned by the Düsseldorfer (Schauspielhaus) in 2014, KISS held its North American premiere at Washington DC's Wooly Mammoth Theatre in 2016, where it was hailed for its provocative meta-theatrical innovation and timely exploration of cultural boundaries in the wake of the ongoing Syrian conflict: "Calderón uses the prism of theater to turn Syria from ubiquitous headline into something more urgent and human," (Metro Weekly), "(Tackles) the Syrian civil war and its refugee crisis... in a way that also addressed the struggles of presenting real-life crises in art... go with an open mind and hang on" (Broadway World).

War and political upheaval have deeply informed the award-winning work of New York-based Chilean playwright/director/screenwriter Guillermo Calderón, hailed as "Chile's most acclaimed playwright-director of the last two-decades" by the LA Times. Born in 1971 at the height of Salvador Allende's left-wing Popular Unity alliance, Calderón came of age under the brutal dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet (Calderón's uncle was killed by Pinochet's security police). Reaching far beyond the borders of his homeland, his plays (written in both English and Spanish) have been presented in over 25 countries - most notably at London's Royal Court Theatre and New York's Public Theater (Diciembre, Neva, and Escuela - Under the Radar). Most recently, Calderón penned the screenplay for Pablo Larrain's 2016 film biopic Neruda, starring Gael García Bernal.

The Canadian premiere of KISS is helmed by director Ashlie Corcoran (Artistic Producer, Theatre Smash & Thousand Islands Playhouse) with the support of Associate DirectorChristopher Stanton (Artistic Producer, ARC). Enacting this multi-layered narrative is a stellar ensemble cast made up of both Theatre Smash alumni and ARC company members: Dalal Badr, Liza Balkan, Greg Gale, Carlos González-Vio, Naomi Wrightand Bahareh Yaraghi. Jung-Hye Kim (Set Design), Jackie Chau (Costume Design),Rebecca Picherack (Lighting Design) and Alex Williams (Projection Design) round off the creative team.

KISS will be on stage at the Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre (26 Berkeley Street) fromMarch 28 to April 16 (Media night: March 30). Performances run Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 8 pm, Fridays at 7pm, and with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday, andSunday at 1pm beginning April 1. Tickets from $39 to $59 are available online, by phone at 416.368.3110, or in person at the Berkeley Street box office. For details visit www.canadianstage.com/online/KISS

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