Nearly 100 posters advertising the Pen Paint and Pretzels (3P) production of Stop Kiss have been removed from all over campus, Producer Rachel Hertz said last night. A love story involving two women, the show is suffering from the lack of exposure and sold only 50 out of 256 tickets in advance for last night's opening show, and less than 100 tickets for the rest of the weekend.
"I haven't noticed any posters," said Jennifer Bien, Director of last semester's 3P's show How I Learned to Drive. "There's very few ticket sales."
According to Hertz, organizers put up 80 posters between last Friday and Monday, a majority of which were gone by Tuesday. The group put up replacement posters, but most had disappeared by the next day.
"We put some on the library steps and in the campus center [Wednesday] night and those are gone," Hertz said. "There are two posters left in Aidekman and that's all I've seen."
Stop Kiss is a play about two women, one from the city and the other from the country, who become friends. The relationship evolves beyond friendship, however, and the two fall in love - their lives turn upside down as the prejudices of those around them come into play. Hertz said she was unsure whether the theft of the posters is related to the subject matter of the play.
"We don't know if it's related to something the show's about, or if someone just doesn't like someone else in the show," Hertz said. But Bien said she doesn't see how the topic of the show would matter.
"The posters themselves don't covey the subject of the play," she said, expressing confusion as to why anyone would tear them down.
Hertz spoke to Provost Sol Gittleman, Assistant Dean of Students Marisel Perez, and the Student Affairs Office to try to find a way to advertise for the play. In order to get word out on the production, there are advertisements on Tuftslife.com, as well as in the Daily. The Dean of Students Office has also provided e-mail lists for groups on campus to help the group advertise.
"Stop Kiss" is has two shows left, on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Admission is $5 for Tufts students.
