Stop Kiss: A Reflection and a Q&A

On Friday Mar 3, 2023 I had the opportunity to see Stop Kiss directed by Finley Shields in the Long Theater. 

The whole show was wonderful, I loved every minute. I thought that the love story between the two leads, Callie played by Yasmin Moghaddam (Biology ‘23) and Sara played by Hanna Grossenbacher (English and Media X ‘23), was honest and sincere. The other cast members Matthew Ford (Media X ‘24), Sophie Fromal (English ‘24), and Ryan Lewis (‘23) contributed a team spirit and charm to the production. Every actor seemed invested in the story. The crew, director, and actors all came together to make a play that was truly meaningful. Their portrayal of the hate LGBTQ+ people face still occurs today. In a way, I wish this play was not so timeless.

I had a chance to speak with one of the actors, Sophie Fromal, before the show. Check out our O&A below.

Q- So, how did you first hear about this acting opportunity?

A- Finley, the director, is in my sorority, and they were like, “Hey, I really need people to come out for my play” and I was like, “There's a play?” and they were like, “There is a play!” and I was like, “Oh, my goodness, sign me up!” and so I auditioned. And I didn't think I would get anything because there were a lot of very talented people there. Then I ended up getting cast and I'm in like 4 scenes.

Q- What can you tell me about your character?

A- I play 2 characters. One is a nurse. The other character is a woman named Mrs. Winsley, who is a bystander or a witness in the play. She is an older, middle aged lady, who is very nosy.

Q- So this play was, well, is Finley's capstone project right? Can you describe being a part of that capstone process?

A- So Finley is very interesting, and they are very handy, and can do a lot of things and juggle a lot of things so I haven't been privy to a lot of the capstone process. I mean, I'm honored that they decided that I could be a part of it. I know that this is an exciting production for Finley, because this is like the first time the school is seeing a play, in a number of years. Obviously they do like the opera and musical theater and stuff. But like they haven't done a play in a while. So it's really exciting for Finley to be able to do this for Powell and their capstone.

Q- How's it been working with the rest of the cast?

A- It's really nice being able to work with people that I know in a creative capacity, because I feel like you get to know them differently than just in an academic setting or in a social setting.

Q- Since the crew is pretty small, have you gotten to do some of that stuff?

A- Oh, okay, so that's actually very fun. That was a group effort between the cast and Finley because, with the crew being so small, we as actors who are like minor actors, are also helping out with crew stuff. I help with costume changes. Yeah, so actually, we built the set. A lot of it is built from PVC pipe, which is really interesting. And we spent a Saturday after rehearsal, putting it all together. My dad came down to help out, and we just put together a bunch of PVC pipe. But it was really fun. And it's really been interesting to kind of see Finley's vision come to fruition, because, like they did a lot of planning about the set. And like this week is really the first time that we've gotten to like see it all put together. So it's been really exciting!