The Washington DC premiere of Diana Son's Stop Kiss, by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, will extend to Feb. 27.

Rhea Seehorn and Holly Twyford play tentative lovers in the gently comic drama about two women letting go of their pasts, facing a future and having their present interrupted by a violent crime.

Performances have sold out at Woolly Mammoth, known for staging edgy, Off-Broadway-style scripts and new works. Son's play was seen at The Public Theater in New York City the 1998-99 season. Oregon Shakespeare Festival is mounting the work in summer 2000.

In the play, Callie (Rhea Seehorn) is a New York City radio traffic announcer who meets Sara (Holly Twyford), a newly arrived schoolteacher. Callie's life is turned upside-down with new feelings. Cross-cutting its story between the women's developing bond is the investigation of a random act of violence against them following their first kiss.

Lee Mikeska Gardner directs. The cast also includes Doug Brown, Ian LeValley, Desiree Marie and Jeorge Watson. Tickets are $16-$29. Woolly Mammoth is at 1401 Church Street, NW (between P & Q), five blocks east of the Dupont Circle Metro Red Line. Call (202) 393-3939 for information, or try the website at www.woollymammoth.net.

-- By Kenneth Jones