Review | ‘Kiss Me’ at Trafalgar Studios, London
By Ross Semple
It’s 1929 and in the aftermath of the Great War we meet Stephanie who is desperate for a child. She procures the services of the business-like and professional Dennis who, as a walking sperm bank, is more than happy to oblige. However, in Richard Bean’s witty and touching 70min duet, nothing is ever that simple.
We are aware of the horrors of the First World War, the unimaginable death toll, entire generations wiped out as husbands, sons and fathers marched off never to be seen again. But what of the woman left behind? Stephanie longs for a child but as she says with chilling clarity, ‘There are no men’. Both characters are wreckage from the carnage of war, desperately trying to find connection and meaning in a world they no longer recognise.
Clare Lams as Stephanie is a joy to watch. She is practically trembling with nerves at the enormity of what she is about to do. Her grief at losing her husband is palpable and her bravery at navigating this social taboo while still trying to smile is heart-breaking.
She is thoroughly modern, she smokes, drives a truck and is willing to smash society’s rigid conformity by having sex with a stranger in order to get pregnant. It’s therefore a little puzzling why such a forward thinking woman would baulk at how society would view her as a single mum. That aside, Lams gives a sensitive, funny and compelling performance as a woman struggling to keep moving forward in a time of painful memories, guilt and regret.
Ben Lloyd-Hughes gives a strong performance as the rigid and uptight Dennis who is merely there to provide a business transaction. He cuts a mysterious and intriguing figure who brings with him more questions than answers. He is genuinely moving when we see his pain and guilt at having survived when the rest of his generation were simply wiped out.
This isn’t ground breaking theatre. However, it it is an intimate and personal look at two people desperate to make a connection in an overwhelming and threatening world.
Rating: 3/5
Words by Matthew Hyde