“Actual Reality — ACT UP — Fight AIDS”
A Review of HIV/AIDS Representation in Theater
Many theater-lovers are aware of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, partially because it has been the subject of some of Broadway’s most iconic plays and musicals. (this is the time when all theater nerds are screaming at their screens YAAAS RENT) Yes, I am talking about Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking musical RENT, but RENT is not the only Broadway show that covers the AIDS epidemic, even if it is the most well know.
The current Broadway production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America recently opened in the Neil Simon Theater on March 25, 2018. This revival has only been running for a little over a month, and is now the most Tony-Nominated Play in Broadway history, with 11 nominations, for the 2017–2018 season. The original production in 1993 of Part One: Millennium Approaches received 6 Tony Nominations, winning Best Play, Best Leading Actor in a Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, and Best Direction of a Play (1). The original production of Part Two: Perestroika received 5 Tony Nominations in 1994, winning Best Play, Best Leading Actor in a Play, and Best Featured Actor in a Play (2).
This revival has caused quite a stir among the Broadway community, earning great reviews for performances, but something that is not discussed as much is the representation of AIDS in the play. That may sound odd, considering the entire play in centered around the AIDS epidemic.
Steven Thrasher, a contributor at Buzzfeed, asks the question, “Why Is Angels In America Still The Most Prominent Story Being Told About AIDS?” in his article, posted during Angels’ opening night performance. It is no secret that Angels is one of the most celebrated narratives about the AIDS epidemic, but does it really hold up to all of the hype? Despite being a Pulitzer Prize, Tony, and Drama Desk Award winning play, Angels white-washes the AIDS epidemic. Thrasher says, “that’s the trouble with Angels: It’s so solemnly self-important and has been so validated as a very important AIDS story…that it’s hard for viewers to see how conservative and basic it often is” (3).
Angels centers around Prior Walter and his lover Louis, who are both white, gay men. Roy Cohn, is a “heterosexual man, who fucks around with guys” (4), and is also white. Joe Pitt is a closeted gay Mormon. He along with his wife Harper and his mother Hannah, are all white characters. The Angel, and all of the actors who portray the Angel Shadow, are white. Even all their understudies and alternatives are white! Out of the entire cast, the only character of color is Belize (played by the same actor who plays Mr. Lies). Thrasher says that Belize’s character “exists primarily to develop white characters emotionally and enlighten white audiences” and “clean up the emotional mess and literal blood of the otherwise all-white cast.” It’s tragic, but true that, Belize only “exists more for the emotional development of the white characters than he does for his own” (5). In other words, The Messenger has arrived and they have come to tell us that AIDS stories exclusively about white, gay men are bullshit.
Thrasher’s Buzzfeed article prompted me to think about the other mainstream AIDS stories told in theater and question why the white, gay man’s story is the AIDS narrative that continues to be retold. I love you Broadway, but I’m calling you out.
The first that came to mind was the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos, the musical about four (five) Jews in a room bitching, spiky lesbians, homosexuals, and AIDS. The original Broadway cast in 1992 was nominated for 7 Tony Awards, winning Best Original Score and Best Book (6). The 2016 revival cast received 5 Tony Nominations (7). Taking place in 1979, Falsettos tells the story of Marvin, who leaves his wife, Trina, and son, Jason, for his new lover, Whizzer. Marvin strives to maintain a tight knit family, which also includes Marvin’s psychiatrist/Trina’s new husband, Mendel, and the lesbians from next door, Charlotte and Cordelia. This very complicated and emotionally triggering musical also reinforces Thrasher’s point that only white, gay men are the focal point of AIDS narratives because — spoiler alert — Whizzer is diagnosed with and dies of AIDS related causes. Similar to Angels, this Falsettos cast only features one actor of color. Much like Belize’s character, Charlotte’s race in this production does nothing to advance the plot (particularly because this role was not written as a character of color and was originated by a white woman) and is most likely thrown in for diversity reasons (and undeniable talent because Traci Thoms is wonderful), instead of representing the hardships of being a person of color during the AIDS epidemic .
Larry Kramer, a key activist in the AIDS epidemic — a co-founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the founder of ACT UP — wrote The Normal Heart in 1985, a play about the AIDS crisis. The Normal Heart won a Tony in 2011 for Best Revival of a Play (8). Reviewed as “one of the most important American plays of the twentieth century…the play is a profoundly moving denunciation of the ignorance and fear that led to the worldwide plague” (9). Ironically, what is ignorant is yet another AIDS dramatization that centers white, gay men as the most victimized. Considering The Normal Heart was written by such an influential AIDS activist, you would think the play would more accurately portray the realities of the epidemic. White, gay men are just the face of AIDS in America. This is an offensive representation when one considering how HIV/AIDS have disproportionately affected and continue to affect people of color.
Right now, it sounds as though I’m completely trashing contemporary theater, which is not my intent. My intent is to bring to light the completely whitewashed version of the AIDS epidemic experienced by the audiences of these productions. This is not an attempt to discredit the importance of these pieces of art. These are critically acclaimed, multi-award winning plays and musicals that should be applauded particularly for tackling the subject itself. The taboo that surrounds HIV/AIDS is thick and near impossible to avoid. It is crucial that we continue to bring AIDS into conversation because it is the only way to challenge stereotypes and stigma, which is exactly what these shows do.
However, as much as I and many others love these productions, even the most celebrated and acclaimed works can have faults. These particular productions happen to share a common fault that no one wants to point out. Such beautifully crafted and poignant shows need to be inclusive of the experience of those who are not white, gay males living with AIDS, or else they alter the perception of the epidemic as a whole. The Book of Mormon and RENT offer far more inclusive and authentic representations of HIV and AIDS.
Hello! This is the The Book of Mormon and it would like to share with you an authentic representation of AIDS (if you don’t get the reference, we can’t be friends). This musical opened on March 24th of 2011 at the Eugene O’Neill Theater. The story of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, two Mormon missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sent on their mission to Uganda, a country in Africa where 80% of the population has AIDS. While AIDS is not the center plot point of this musical, it is still one of the few depictions of AIDS that is told through a community of color in a musical medium.
Not only told transnationally, but also intersectionally, The Book of Mormon gives an honest look into the lives of people living with AIDS that isn’t about white, gay men. The reality is that people of color are diagnosed with AIDS at the highest rate. In America, where African Americans only make up 12% of the population, they account for 44% of HIV diagnoses and 47% of people diagnosed with AIDS (10). The rates are disproportionately higher in countries, like Uganda, where people of color make up the majority of the population. This is the harsh reality of the AIDS epidemic that continues to be ignored in theater. Ignoring it only dehumanizes those who have AIDS, or have passed away from AIDS related causes, that belong to communities of color. You can’t just turn specific aspects of the epidemic off like a light switch (again, if you don’t get the reference we’re not friends.)
Jonathan Larson’s RENT is one of the most iconic musicals to ever hit the Great White Way. Larson was inspired to write RENT as a response to his personal experience with AIDS epidemic. Prior to 1996, when the Original Broadway Cast first opened RENT at the Nederlander Theater on April 29th, Larson had lost several of his friends to AIDS. He decided to tell this story as a tribute to their lives and his love for them. If you know the musical well, the members of the life support meeting scene — Steve, Gordon, Ali, Pam, and Sue — are the names of Larson’s friends who had passed (11).
December 24th, 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (okay seriously, if you don’t get the references just leave): RENT is a musical which some may consider overrated, but when you break it down, it is undeniably the most intersectional, inclusive story about AIDS told on Broadway. Mark Cohen, a straight, white, Jewish filmmaker, narrates the story of he and his friends living in New York City, center of the universe, and the AIDS epidemic. His roommate, Rodger Davis, a straight, white man coming back from half a year of withdrawal, is a struggling musician who has AIDS. Rodger’s ex-girlfriend, April, left a note saying “we have AIDS” before slitting her wrists in the bathroom (if you didn’t read that with Anthony Rapp’s voice in your head GET OUT). Both Rodger and April were struggling addicts using heroin, which is how April contracted AIDS before passing it on to Rodger. Rodger then falls for Mimi Marquez, a Latina dancer from the Cat Scratch Club who is said to have the best ass below 14th street (c’mon people these are only funny if you get them). Mimi also struggles with a heroin addiction, which is how she contracted AIDS. RENT tells the truthful and often ignored narrative that HIV/AIDS is not only contracted through sexual encounters, but also through sharing needles or syringes, rinse water, or other equipment used to prepare drugs for injection (12).
Tom Collins, friends call him Collins, is an African American, gay man. Recently expelled from his teaching job at M.I.T. for his theory of actual reality. He falls in love with a Latinx, street drag queen, Angel Dumott Schunard whose body provides a comfortable home for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, as does Collins’, so they get along fine (I swear if you don’t get that one I’ll cry). Knowing the fate of their diagnosis, they are able to live their relationship, and their lives, to the fullest with the limited time they have left.
Also, Angel can be considered non-binary or gender nonconforming/fluid because they are referred to by other characters with both he/him and she/her pronouns and presents femininely during most scenes. However, during their — spoiler alert — death scene, we see them presenting masculinity. This representation acknowledges queer people who do not solely identify as gay who are diagnosed with AIDS.
None of the following characters have AIDS, but they do bring a more intersectional lens that continues to advance Larson’s inclusiveness within the cast: Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performing artist and Mark’s ex-girlfriend. Maureen leaves Mark for her new girlfriend, anal-retentive lesbian lawyer, Joanne Jefferson. Benjamin Coffin III, the enemy of Avenue A, a straight, African American male, who used to be Mark/Rodger/Collins/Maureen’s roommate, sets off the title song when he demands that Mark and Rodger’s rent is due, because he is now their landlord. Benny was also previously involved with Mimi, and unless he married Buffy… I mean Alison (haha), less than three months ago, he was cheating on his wife with Mimi. The audience can also speculate that when Benny was involved with Mimi there is a possibility he may be HIV positive because she is. If so, that would change the entire trajectory of Benny’s power considering he is only wealthy because he married into money.
A lyric in the song, “La Vie Boheme”, really sums up RENT — “to being an us for once, instead of a them.” This line depicts the sense of community that is seen throughout the show. There is a sense of community among the outcasts, the sick, the poor, the colored. Race becomes a big part of this sense of community because without a racially diverse cast, as Larson purposefully wrote it, that community does not come across in the same way. It also would not depict AIDS in the reality that Larson created, in order to cross all of the intersections that the epidemic affected.
In a community that prides itself on being inclusive and creative, the Broadway community is seriously lacking representation of intersectionality on a topic which hits close to home for many of its’ members. It is possible to tell a story of the AIDS epidemic realistically, it is just that the most acclaimed are the ones that center on white, gay men. That needs to stop. It is not honest and does incredible disservice to all those who have died of AIDS or who are living with AIDS. People of color, women, drug users, trans-people, all of the above, and so many more do not deserve to have their voices and stories silenced. You cannot responsibly tell the history of the AIDS epidemic solely through the experiences of white people, so why do we continue to celebrate only the narratives that do just that?
References:
- “1993 Tony Award Winners.” Broadway World. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=1993
- “1994 Tony Award Winners.” Broadway World. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=1994
- Thrasher, Steven. “Why Is Angels in America Still The Most Prominent Story Being Told About AIDS?” Buzzfeed News. 25 Mar 2018. https://www.buzzfeed.com/steventhrasher/angels-in-america?utm_term=.hkG7m71lQV#.kh83A3k5VB
- Kushner, Tony. Angels in American: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. New York, NY: Theater Communications Group, 2013.
- Thrasher, Steven. “Why Is Angels in America Still The Most Prominent Story Being Told About AIDS?” Buzzfeed News. 25 Mar 2018. https://www.buzzfeed.com/steventhrasher/angels-in-america?utm_term=.hkG7m71lQV#.kh83A3k5VB
- “1992 Tony Award Winners.” Broadway World. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=1992
- “2016 Tony Award Winners.” Broadway World. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=2016
- “2011 Tony Award Winners.” Broadway World. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardsyear.cfm?year=2011
- Kramer, Larry. The Normal Heart. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2000.
- “HIV Among African Americas.” Center for Disease Control. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/index.html
- Rapp, Anthony. Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical RENT. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2006.
- “How is HIV Transmitted?” HIV.gov. Accessed April 29, 2018. https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/how-is-hiv-transmitted
