The 3 usual questions #3: did you guys really kiss?

Yes, just as soon as they ask about the stage violence, the young ones want to know about the stage romance.

For the less sophisticated question-asker, this question can mean - did your two mouths really actually touch? The answer to this part of the question is and has always been in my experience yes.

For the slightly more sophisticated question-asker, this question I think is a coded way of asking if the two actors are romantically involved with each other. The answer to this part of the question is and has always been in my experience no.

So here's the real problem for 'civilians' - your lips touched but you're not romantically involved with each other - how does that work? My answer here - it works the same way that all good relationships work: communication and respect about comfort level.

There's one kiss in Macbeth. I'm one of the two involved in it (the other is Leontyne, as Lady Macbeth). When we were rehearsing the scene with the kiss in it, we were getting very close to each other, and it seemed like a point where Macbeth would want to kiss his wife. I didn't do it even though I had the impulse - It was fairly early in the rehearsal process and I didn't know Leontyne very well yet and I didn't want to surprise my fellow actor and take her out of her comfort zone. But soon after that Joan, our director, stopped us to make an adjustment, and I said that it seemed like we should've kissed after a certain point in the text. We were all in agreement, so we tried it and it worked. I know that I would tell Leontyne if something about that moment were making me uncomfortable, and that she would tell me - in the same way we'd communicate about fight choreography and personal safety.

A few more thoughts about stage kisses - I have yet to be involved in a stage kiss that has open mouths and tongues moving around. In every circle I've traveled in the stage kiss is kept 'professional', that is lips only, no tongues. And, I think unless the kiss was made explicit by the stage directions or text, a conversation between at the very least, the people doing the kiss needs to happen before it happens onstage. Lastly, for the professional actor involved in stage kisses, oral hygiene is important - brushed teeth, breath mints, avoiding odorous foods. And, in a story I heard from a fellow actor - knowing if your onstage kiss partner has strong food allergies. She was in a show, and kissing an actor with a severe peanut allergy, and ate a peanut butter energy bar in between two shows, and her cast-mate had a reaction to it.