Two couples meet for their weekly soap opera viewing party, but that standing double date quickly starts to feel like a soap opera itself when the friends unpack scandals, secrets and their heart-rending passions. Guillermo Calderón has written a bold and political theatrical experience that explodes the romantic drama and asks what it means to empathize with a culture and conflict that is not your own.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE & LOCATION:
Thursday thru Saturday at 8:00pm
Sundays at 3:00pm
Pay-What-You-Can Previews: July 18-20 at 8:00pm / July 21 at 3:00pm
Opening NIGHT: July 23 At 8:00pm
INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE: Monday, August 5 at 8:00 pm
Open Captioned Performance: Sunday, August 11 at 3:00 pm
Understudy Performance: Wednesday, August 14 at 8:00 pm (pay-what-you-can)

THE DEN THEATRE’S JANET BOOKSPAN THEATRE (1st Floor, ADA-accessible)
1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL 60622

Content Warning

Please be advised that KISS contains themes and content that may be disturbing or triggering to some viewers, including the use of gunshots and mentions of sexual assault.

Artistic Director’s Note

Comments Haven Artistic Director Ian Damont Martin, “Bringing this play to Chicago in this moment is particularly exciting as we all start to ask some new and difficult questions about our work, questions about story and perspective – questions about our role and responsibility as artists. Who gets to tell what story? Can we tell stories that are not our own? And what happens when impact doesn't necessarily line up with intent? What is learned in that space? These are the types of questions playwright Guillermo Calderón and director Monty Cole are asking in their respective work. We are glad to be facilitating some space to grapple with these questions which feel so necessary today. Haven is also pleased to welcome back some members of the Haven family, Monty Cole who directed Weird Kids in our inaugural Director's Haven, and Abhi Shrestha, who previously served as Haven's Literary Manager.”

FEATURING

Salar Ardebili, Monty Cole, Gloria Imseih Petrelli, Arti Ishak, Sami Ismat and Cassidy Slaughter-Mason
Understudies: Nina Jayashankar. Ruchir Khazanchi, Joan Nahid, Kate Nawrocki and Ian Michael Smith

PRODUCTION TEAM

William Boles (scenic design), Emily Boyd (props design), Kotryna Hilko (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Zach Gipson (technical director), Adam Goldstein (dialect coach), Gaby Labotka (intimacy direction), Katelyn Le-Thompson (associate lighting design), Jeffrey Levin (sound design), Liviu Pasare (projections designer), Marika Mashburn (casting director), R&D Choreography (Violence Design), Angela Salinas (production manager), May Truehaft-Ali (dramaturg), Corbin Paulino (production stage manager) and Mitch Ward (stage manager).