“STOP KISS” brings life to the stage

Student-led performance brings a culturally relevant production to the campus community

Jenna Murphy / Asst. A&C Editor / The USD Vista

Within the tiny Vassiliadis Family Black Box Theatre of Camino Hall, senior theatre major DeZell Lathon and his team have spent the last two months working tirelessly to bring together a student-run, student-directed, and student-designed play.

“STOP KISS,” originally created by Diana Son, tells the story of two lesbian women, Callie, played by Shane Murphy, and Sara, played by Caitlyn Crepeault. It shows the progression of their relationship as they discover and come to terms with their sexualities. At the same time, the play is about the investigation of an assault committed against the two women when they were seen kissing in the park. After the assault, Sara ends up in a coma from the beatings, and Callie is left wondering what will become of her partner and friend.

The play sheds light on the frequent discrimination and danger faced by people who identify as LGBTQ+. For Lathon, this issue is one that needs to be recognized and addressed.

“The current administration is not too keen on LGBTQ+ rights, which is one of the many reasons I was inspired to choose this play, but also because the conversation about violence against women in the queer community is a conversation that is lost,” Lathon said.

The play comes at a pivotal time for our nation and the LGBTQ+ community. In the past few weeks the Department of Health and Human Services has proposed that gender be defined strictly within federal civil rights law as unchangeable, meaning that identifying as transgender would not be recognized by the government as legitimate.

Additionally, the Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recently argued that protections against discrimination, laid out in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, should not include gay people. In these troubling times, a play that tells the stories and struggles of the LGBTQ+ community is needed to begin a discussion about how basic human rights are being threatened. As evidenced by his latest production , Lathon believes theatre is the perfect way to get these stories across and facilitate conversation.

“We wanted to market this to people who wouldn’t normally come to see this show,” Lathon said.“We reached out to professors to get their classes to come, sororities, fraternities, and others, because yes, I know this topic. People in PRIDE know this topic. We know the conversation, and we know why it’s important. But what about the people who don’t talk about this?”

“STOP KISS” was chosen by Lathon for his Student Lab project. Student Lab is a series here on campus in which a committee of faculty members gives students a list of plays selected by the committee. Potential student directors read through the plays, pick one, and submit their directorial visions and approaches. Then, they wait in hopes of being chosen. If chosen, they are provided with equipment and a venue, but the faculty members have little to no involvement in the rest of the process, making it a solely student-run production.

When reading through the committee’s selections of plays, “STOP KISS” spoke to Lathon in a way that the other plays didn’t.

“This play spoke to me on such a level,” Lathon said. “I came out here at USD my freshman year and when I read this show, the characters, and their stories, I knew this was a story that needed to be told.”

USD is a changemaking campus; however, Lathon recognized that the only way to foster change is to be informed on the issues at hand and inspired to take action. His hope is that this play will familiarize people with the issue of violence toward the LGBTQ+ community.

“I think this campus has a lot of potential,” Lathon said. “And I only hope that as a creator, as an artist, and as a storyteller, that I can tell stories that resonate with people, and help them see others in a better light. Because the whole purpose of theatre is that at the end of the day, people just want to be understood. You want to be seen and you want to be heard and my job as a storyteller is to make you feel seen and to make you feel heard. And with this show I think we’re helping a lot of people feel that.”

The USD PRIDE organization was supportive of Lathon and his colleagues throughout the creative process, as on campus identifiers and/or advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. Last Thursday night after the show, they hosted a “Coming Out” party to celebrate the play and support the cast. In light of the recent governmental propositions and discourses, the play gave the PRIDE community an opportunity to feel recognized and supported. Similarly, it offered USD students the information needed to become more aware of experiences in marginalized communities.