Intimacy can come in many forms: from a long, sensuous kiss to the brief contact of hands. They can unleash a flood of emotions and raise many questions to the meaning of such an action. David Finnigan and Isab Martinez's Appropriate Kissing for All Occasions is presented as two short works in which the art of kissing and desire are explored.
The first piece, of which the show is named from, introduces us to Toni Stevenson-Smith (Christina McLachlan), a sex therapist and intimacy coach who is here to enlighten us on the perfect kiss. Toni takes us through a variety of kisses, including the first kiss, how to kiss in public and the farewell kiss. Teaching a group of people how to kiss is difficult without someone to kiss, so with some help from some volunteers in the audience (strictly by volunteering), Toni rates and critiques each kisser with the hope of them using her words of wisdom in the future.
This dissection of kissing explores how much meaning and power kissing has in our culture. Throughout the lecture, Toni's own cracks begin to surface as she deals with the aftermath of her own lip-locking experiences. McLachlan does a great job in presenting the duality of a cool, calm and collected professional while expressing the rejection, anger and sadness that has resulted from the simple act of kissing.