Multi-award winning writer Richard Bean’s Kiss Me transfers to Trafalgar Studios from Tuesday 6 June until Saturday 8 July 2017 after a sold out run at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in 2016. Claire Lams (The King’s Speech, Chichester Festival Theatre; The Little Mermaid, Bristol Old Vic; Routes, The Royal Court) and Ben Lloyd-Hughes (Future Conditional, Old Vic; Henry V, Michael Grandage Company; Jumpy, Duke of York’s Theatre) reprise their roles.
This new play is a beautiful and unorthodox love story about two people struggling to escape the guilt and ghosts of the past, set against the shifting world of London post-World War I. As the roles women play change, Stephanie, a war widow finds it increasingly difficult to play by the rules as she still longs to have a baby. A meeting with Dennis changes everything. A desperate woman. A chivalrous man. And a forbidden kiss.
While Bean is more often know for comedy and farce, this intimate and tender portrayal reflects emotion in a time of great crisis and suffering. Bean’s other plays include One Man, Two Guvnors, Great Britain, Made in Dagenham and the recent sell out hit The Nap, which starred Jack O’Connell. He comments, I’m very excited that Kiss Me is transferring to Trafalgar Studios, and this intriguing story will hopefully find a wider audience. It will be great to be working with Claire Lams, Ben Lloyd-Hughes and Anna Ledwich again.
Director Anna Ledwich will be returning to the Trafalgar Studios following her Olivier-award nomination for Four Minutes Twelve Seconds.
Hampstead Theatre today announces two other Hampstead Downstairs, opening in the Spring at Hampstead Theatre. Following an initial development run at Hampstead Downstairs, the updated plays Deposit and Alligators will run from May.