An Exploration of Authenticity and Humanity in Drama: A Story Analysis of Dante or Death and The Kissing of a Wedding Killer

B offers the safety of verisimilitude as a play about real events, but whether the facts of the story are true or not isn't always enough to make us believe them. Dante or Die's new production about a homophobic gay man in prison is energetic and builds on significant research, but the storytelling ignores the surface of the tricky subject matter it tackles and struggles to bring the complex characters to life.

Kiss Wedding Kill tells the story of Jay (Dawda Radejobi), who is imprisoned for life for murdering a man he was dating for fear his friends would find out. With the clanking of prison beds stacked on top of each other and Mrs. Lecktz's rapping, Jay hastily forgets his pregnant fiancée at home and begins to form a relationship with Paul (Graham McKay-Bruce), a charming murderer. Inspired by events even more bizarre than the novel, the play tells the story of Mikhail Galatinov and Mark Goodwin, both convicted of murdering gay men and becoming the first same-sex couples to marry in prison.

The play was produced in collaboration with forensic psychologists, academics and inmates, but the oversimplified characterizations make it difficult to truly understand why Jay and Paul behave the way they do. Neither man fully considers their past behavior, and their progress is a frantic, unexplained leap rather than a carefully charted step. We see Jay as a man so disgusted and terrified by the attraction of men that he kills a stranger in a blind rage, but all it takes is for a handsome Scotsman to flirt with him and he is quickly transformed into a soft and gentle soul, happy and relaxed in the arms of his new partner. Is he suddenly satisfied with his eccentricities? Is their love meant to redeem them?

Perhaps it's the choice of material in the face of such extremes of human behavior that makes it difficult to get to the heart of the character. Perhaps that's the speed at which the story develops. There are still many unexplored depths in this tour de force, but it raises some interesting questions about the extent to which love can change a person's morality.

Stone Nest, London, with a deadline of April 27th. Then touring until May 19th.