Like many a fairy tale this isn't a “what you see is what you get” happy ending story. Like the brothers Grimm, Lucas knows that what you see in such stories embodies the unseen darker fears that haunt us from childhood on—in this case the fear of aging and its accompanying losses and the ultimate fear of death.

Prelude to a Kiss IS a romantic fairy tale. It's enduring charm is that it hooks you into its boy meets girl love story and relies on the actors rather than a lot of crafty stage effects to make its fantastical body-snatching sequences work. Unlike his much darker post-Prelude plays, Lucas has not taken us into a black hole that can't let in any light. Instead he's brought off a neat trick: an enjoyable, full of laughs two hours with even the darker subtext handled with delicacy and humor and its message, while obvious, managing not to come off like a hokey Hallmark greeting card.

Peter and Rita meet cute and fall in love, despite her pessimistic outlook on life and his optimism (despite a troubled childhood). In a flash, they decide to get married. At the wedding ceremony, Rita is asked by a lonely old man if he may kiss her. She agrees, and fantastically she and the old man exchange souls. Peter then must find a way to either love the woman he married despite her new appearance, or somehow get the two of them to kiss again and exchange souls. A few laughs along the way, but expect lots of great dialogue on the meaning of it all, including true love and commitment. It has been heavily speculated that, deep down, the play is a metaphor from writer Craig Lucas for the destruction of the gay community by AIDS.