AIDS US – Honoring World AIDS Day (2018)

BACKGROUND

In April of 1986, Artists Confronting AIDS (ACA) and Skylight's Producing Artistic Director, Gary Grossman, produced the first known live theatrical presentation in which Persons With AIDS told first-person stories illuminating their intimate experiences with the disease, joined by family members and a few significant forces from the nascent AIDS community.

While attempting to find meaning in AIDS through artistic expression had begun, placing those who were battling the disease onstage—some in the final stages—was a revolutionary act for all involved.

“Revolutionary, yes,” says Michael Kearns, who directed the show and served as one of the producers, “It was also scary. You know the Equity rule about having a cot backstage? We had more than one. And there were often cast members lying on them right up until curtain.”

Kearns and his artistic partner, James Carroll Pickett, had formed ACA, not knowing that AIDS/US would become the phenomenon that it did. The “docudrama” received ecstatic reviews, attracting the likes of Governor Jerry Brown and Shirley MacLaine sitting next to a contingent of boys from the nearby A.T. (Alcoholics Together) Center. The general public was intrigued but concerned about attending. It wasn't uncommon for potential audience members to call the box office asking if they “could catch AIDS from the cast” by sitting in the audience.

Set for four Sunday matinees, AIDS/US ran for a year at Skylight while making visits to schools, churches, and a special performance for the State Assembly in Sacramento. Successful sequels followed: AIDS/US II and AIDS/US/WOMEN.

Now, thirty-two years later, a fourth installment AIDS/US/QUEERWISE will be produced on the Skylight Theatre stage in honor of World AIDS Day. While the work tracks thirty-two years of AIDS history, “This show will not be glum,” Kearns promises. “We look at these years as a kaleidoscopic, rollicking roller coaster ride. I think that’s how most long-term survivors perceive the plague.”

Before he died in ’93, James Carroll Pickett said to Kearns (of AIDS’ impact), “Well, honey, you’ve got to admit it’s never boring.” And how right he was. After all this time, there are new revelations, fresh gossip, and even some inappropriate laughs. “We are determined to share with our audience specifics of the tumultuous years we survived; giving them an experience that we hope they will find relevant."

“And perhaps,” Kearns says, “store in their hearts.”

Skylight and QueerWise have collaborated on World AIDS Day events since 2015, supported in part by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.