Prelude to a Kiss (play)

Prelude to a Kiss
Written by	Craig Lucas
Characters	Peter Hoskins Rita Boyle Old Man
Date premiered	1988
Place premiered	Costa Mesa, California
Original language	English
Genre	Romantic Comedy

Prelude to a Kiss is a 1988 play by Craig Lucas. It tells the story of a couple that falls in love despite the girl's pessimistic outlook on life. Shortly after their wedding, a supernatural event tests the strength of their love and commitment to each other.

The title is taken from the 1938 torch song of the same title by Duke Ellington.

Immediately after a young couple named Peter and Rita have exchanged wedding vows, an unknown elderly man asks to kiss the bride. As he does, Rita's soul and the old man's magically exchange bodies.

Neither Peter nor the wedding guests grasp what has happened. Peter leaves the wedding with a woman he believes is Rita. During their honeymoon, he comes to realize that Rita's body is no longer inhabited by Rita's true personality. He must find the old man and keep his love for Rita alive despite the fact that she is now in an unattractive body.

Critic Frank Rich wrote: "...this play can be taken as an indirect treatment of [AIDS]. The epidemic is to Mr. Lucas what Babi Yar was to D. M. Thomas, and Peter's fidelity to his true love's soul is transparent. Critic James Hebert wrote: "When it premiered in 1990 it was widely presumed to be an oblique response to the ravages of AIDS. Long removed from that time, it becomes a broader commentary on eternal topics like the limits of love and the meaning of commitment."

The play was commissioned and originally staged by South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California in January 1988. It opened off-Broadway at Circle Repertory Company on March 14, 1990 (February 20 previews) starring Alec Baldwin, Mary-Louise Parker, Debra Monk, L. Peter Callender, Craig Bockhorn, and John Dossett, and directed by Norman René, who had directed at South Coast Repertory.

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