Washington Post - Recommended
"...Designer Andre Pluess helps flesh out the play’s fictional world — and its sense of lives brushing against one another — with sound effects that include lapping waves, purring boat motors and noises seeping through motel room walls. And Beverly Emmons’s lighting clarifies emotional and narrative segues, as well as (in one particularly endearing sequence) conjuring up an aquarium full of sea horses."
Washington Examiner - Recommended
"...There is minor unevenness in "The History of Kisses" since some of the offerings are not as gripping as others. But as James' unique and well-fashioned characters reveal themselves, they imply a singular conclusion: that -- without being overly romantic or idealistic -- new, reinvigorated life happens as surely as the tides roll in."
DCist - Recommended
"...The stories are all about love, and, while sometimes bittersweet, they leave you smiling fondly and even laughing. Cale transforms into an Australian surfer, hosting a sex-tips show and spewing mountains of hilarious euphemisms. Later, he becomes Roger again and talks about spending so long in a place called "Longing" that he's become the mayor of it. Tales of sex, lust and betrayal simmer throughout, while the sea shanties Cale has invented keep the romantic sea air wafting."
WeLoveDC - Somewhat Recommended
"...There are some truly great moments in the show- like a scene where Cale treats the act of making love as a basic cable cooking show. But they are too far between to leave a lasting impact."
Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended
"...And as a navigator? Well, The History of Kisses—a world premiere that replaced an earlier Cale solo outing, Palomino, on the Studio slate—is still finding its sea legs, so some listing is to be expected. Particularly disorienting is the fact that Cale spends the first 25 minutes as Lisa, a middle-aged divorcée who finds her batteries recharged by a dashing stranger. This opening story of there-and-gone romance is the show’s longest and, to me, least interesting, although perhaps it only seemed so because I needed some time to surrender myself to the dreamy, discursive rhythms of Cale’s storytelling. Once Lisa goes away and Cale reverts to the role of James, the short-story writer, we recognize how thoroughly he’d altered his body language, cadences, and pitch to take on the physical characteristics of a woman. He repeats the illusion to adopt the identities of several other characters whose lives briefly intersect in moments of unforeseen erotic possibility."
Washingtonian - Highly Recommended
"...Love and sex, so often isolated onstage, are intertwined here, as are desire and inhibition. On Luciana Stecconi’s set, a seemingly magical beach, anything seems possible, if only for a minute. Beverly Emmons’s shifting lighting helps define a mood, whether it’s communicating the darkness of an airplane cabin or the mysterious glow of an aquarium. This is an extraordinarily intimate play, at times uncomfortable, but consistently offering a fascinating glimpse into the happiness we seek in others."
BrightestYoungThings - Highly Recommended
"...I was just delighted to find that David Cale’s “the History of Kisses” is a lovely, engaging, and thoroughly winning play about the chances we take in love, life and relationships – and, with a little luck, the rewards we reap."
Washington Blade - Recommended
"...“The History of Kisses” — David Cale’s terrific one-man show making its world premiere at Studio Theatre — is a collection of interconnected monologues detailing mostly random erotic encounters that take place close to and on the ocean. The work’s central and most likable character James (a gay writer like Cale) is temporarily holed-up in a seaside California motel working on a collection of stories about desire and epiphany. His motel neighbors and a few more established friends are the subject of his intimate sketches."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...There are moments of keen insight and emotional uplift here, especially for the middle-aged contingent who assume that their best kisses are behind them. As his character Robert Grundy tells us in the play’s opening song, it’s time to set sail and “head for parts unknown.” When it finally happens, in this play, we wish the writer had taken that advice a little more to heart. Like many monologists, Cale unintentionally exposes his inner control freak here, even in the name of emotional and sexual liberation. At its best, The History of Kisses and its characters flow with the tides. In its less fortuitous moments, Cale seems to have diverted these stories into his own emotional reservoir. There’s nothing wrong with having your own personal water supply, of course. But either in the theater or on the beach, at least to this reviewer, it’s a lot more fun watching the surfers wipe out than listening to someone make sense of it all."
DCTheatreScene - Recommended
David Cale’s one-man show, The History of Kisses — now in its world premiere run at the Studio Theatre — is a dish best served slow. Set in and around a forlorn lifeguard chair perched on the edge of a nondescript California beach adjacent to a seedy motel, Cale’s creative monologue meanders in and out of the lives of lonely men and women whose fleeting romantic encounters cleverly weave themselves together in his closing moments.
