MyAnna Buring and Patrick Kennedy will star in Sarah Ruhl’s romantic comedy Stage Kiss, which opens at Hampstead Theatre this May.
Directed by Blanche McIntyre, Buring and Kennedy will play She and He – two actors with a history who are thrown together as romantic leads in a forgotten 1930s melodrama.
They will be joined by Toto Bruin, Oliver Dimsdale, James Phoon, Rolf Saxon and Jill Winternitz.
Stage Kiss begins with a sweeping melodrama. It’s 1930 New York, Ada is dying and her true love has journeyed from Europe for one final embrace. The estranged lovers are reunited, convinced their love will conquer all obstacles. Except, it’s 2011 New Haven, and these are rehearsals for The Last Kiss, a long-forgotten play. And there’s a plot twist. Art imitates life, and our two leading actors have an explosive romantic history of their own. As opening night approaches, a passionate affair may be waiting in the wings…
Stage Kiss marks McIntyre’s second collaboration with Ruhl following Letters from Max in 2025, which also played Hampstead Downstairs.
It is designed by Robert Innes Hopkins with lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, sound design by Gregory Clarke and composition by Grant Olding. Fight, movement and intimacy direction is by Yarit Dor, the assistant director is Olivia Munk and the casting director is Juliet Horsley.
Stage Kiss runs at Hampstead Theatre from May 8 – June 13, 2026. Tickets here.
Top image: Stage Kiss cast announcement (image supplied)