Kiss Marry Kill at Hallé St Peter’s
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Dante or Die champion performance in unusual locations – places where you would not normally expect to stumble across a theatrical performance. Previous work has seen hotel rooms, cafés and self-storage units transformed from their ordinary, everyday purpose into vivid performance spaces that celebrate human experience. Their latest offsite production Kiss Marry Kill is a provocative new play that imagines the first same-sex wedding in a UK prison. Audiences are invited to take a seat on a prison bed and prepare for the action to play out in front, above and around them.
Inspired by real-life events, Kiss Marry Kill is an electrifying and intimate story of love and redemption. Jay and Paul are both serving life sentences for homophobic murders. Incredibly, behind bars, they fall in love and ask permission to marry. Thrilling and engaging, and in signature Dante or Die style, the audience are placed at the centre of the action as the performers move around them. Set to live music from rapper Lady Lykez, the production plunges the audience into an unfamiliar private space as they become privy to conversations in a rarely-seen world.
As always, we love Dante or Die’s work for challenging our assumptions and preconceptions. Kiss Marry Kill hones in on the limits of our compassion and asks us to reflect on the narratives we hold in relation to sexuality and the criminal justice system.
Recommended for ages 16+, Kiss Marry Kill has been commissioned by The Lowry, South Street Reading & Ideas Test, with support from Norwich Theatre Royal & Stone Nest. This offsite touring production will take over Hallé St Peter’s in Ancoats, Manchester following a London run.
