Displaying items by tag: THE NORMAL HEART

Though Larry Kramer did not live to see the end of the 2020 COVID-19 lock downs, no doubt his contributions to the 1980s AIDS outbreak inspired a new generation to demand accountability for what is widely regarded as a botched response.

Larry Kramer was known as a firebrand who often verged on offensive. His 1978 debut novel titled “Faggots” was a blistering satire of pre-AIDS gay life in New York City. His depictions of fellow gays as shallow and promiscuous earned him a negative reputation in the late 1970s scene.

By the time the AIDS crisis overwhelmed New York in the early 80s, Kramer was seen by many as cantankerous, but nonetheless his brash public appearances and relentless demand for social justice made him an iconic figure in the fight against AIDS.

Redtwist Theatre opens their newly renovated space with a revival of Larry Kramer’s 1985 play ‘The Normal Heart’. Ted Hoerl directs a sizeable ensemble cast to recreate Kramer’s semi-autobiographical story of the inception of one of the country’s first AIDS activist groups—Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

‘The Normal Heart’ begins with a gut-wrenching diagnosis that quickly drops the audience into the moment when AIDS first hit New York in the summer of 1981. Kramer establishes Ned Weeks (Peter Ferneding) as the main character spurned into action by the sight of his friends rapidly dying of an unknown disease.

Ned is inspired to become a leader for AIDS research by Dr. Brookner (Tammy Rozofsky) who sees patient after patient with the same mysterious, but lethal pathology. With his heart in the right place, Ned bickers incessantly with his fellow activists showing how messy progress can be.

Through it all, Ned falls in love for the first time, mirroring Kramer’s own search for love in an era where gay love was still in the closet. The central romance between Ned and Felix (Zachary Linnert) provides Ned a reason to keep fighting for acknowledgement from federal and local health agencies in order to fund research and a cure.

Performances are somewhat inconsistent in Redtwist’s revival, but the play serves to remind its audience of the truly outrageous mishandling of the AIDS crisis by Reagan-era politicians unwilling to help, or even dare say the word AIDS. Kramer’s anger is both palpable and justifiable in nearly every line, even if at times delivered a little melodramatically.

‘The Normal Heart’ is a searing indictment of the dangers of apathy. And that seems even more prescient as we head into an election in which brazenly absurd policies like Project 2025 are on the ballot.  Kramer was deeply disturbed by the Western word’s inaction during the Holocaust and saw many parallels during the AIDS crisis. While not exactly a pleasant subject matter, the world needs people like Larry Kramer to sound the alarm bells.  His play may not be as artful as Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’ but its message is even more dire. In the near three hour run time, in a small theater, Kramer’s gripping script is impossible to shy away from, which is exactly what he intended.

Through September 29 at Redtwist Theatre. 1044 W Bryn Mawr Ave. www.RedwistTheatre.org

Award-winning Redtwist Theatre announces today that due to ongoing construction at the theatre, The Normal Heart, written by Larry Kramer and directed by Ensemble Member Ted Hoerl, will now run August 25 - September 29. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. Press opening is Sunday, Aug. 25 at 3:30 p.m. The anticipated running time, including intermission, is 120 minutes. Single tickets will go on sale in August for $35 at RedtwistTheatre.org with discounts available for seniors, students and industry professionals and pay-what-you-can for all Friday performances. 

Larry Kramer’s beautiful, searing play about the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic, based on his experience organizing Gay Men’s Health Crisis, opens Redtwist’s newly renovated venue. The play, winner of Tony, Drama Desk and Olivier Awards, tells the story of an advocacy group that struggled against government suppression and internal strife in the face of the disappearance of their community. This heart wrenching, humanist play, written more than 40 years ago about a small group of advocates calling for action from a government that insists that nothing is wrong, seems darkly familiar and more universal than ever.

The Normal Heart cast includes Peter Ferneding (he/him, Ned Weeks); Zachary Linnert (he/him, Felix Turner); Philip C. Matthews (he/him, Bruce Niles); Joshua Servantez* (he/him, Mickey Marcus); Cameron Austin Brown (he/him,Tommy Boatwright); Christopher Meister (he/him, Ben Weeks); Tamara Rozofsky (she/her, Dr. Emma Brookner); Gardy Gilbert (he/him, Hiram/David/Examining Doctor/Orderly); Caleb Crawford (he/him, Craig/ Grady/Orderly); Matt Fayfer (he/him, Ned Weeks U/S); Riley Lucas (he/him, Felix Turner U/S); Michael Oakes (he/they, Bruce Niles U/S); Eddie Ledford (he/him, Mickey Marcus U/S); Cameron Cai (he/him, Tommy Boatwright U/S); Phil Aman (he/him, Ben Weeks U/S) and Brenden Zwiebel (he/him, Craig/Grady/Orderly U/S).

The Normal Heart production team includes Ted Hoerl* (he/him, director); Rashaad A. Bond (he/him, assistant director); Taylor Pfenning (she/her, costume designer); Nick Bartleson (he/him, props designer); Ashly Demay (she/her, dramaturg); Cat Davis* (she/her, lighting designer); Amy Rappa (they/she, stage manager); Dusty Brown* (they/them, co-artistic director) and Eileen Dixon* (she/they, co-artistic director).

*indicates Redtwist Theatre Ensemble Member

ABOUT LARRY KRAMER, playwright

LARRY KRAMER was an American playwright, screenwriter and gay rights activist whose confrontational style of advocacy, while divisive, was credited by many with catalyzing the response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States. Kramer found a new calling in activism in July 1981, following the announcement of an outbreak of Kaposi sarcoma, a form of cancer that was eventually attributed to AIDS, among gay men in New York and California. As gay friends and associates began succumbing to the then-mysterious illness, Kramer set off in pursuit of a solution. Bureaucratic, medical and political inertia, abetted by social prejudice against homosexuality, had resulted in an inadequate response to the AIDS crisis, with long waiting lists for trial treatments and often astronomical financial burdens. In August 1981, Kramer convened a group of interested parties, including one of the doctors who had initially noted the phenomenon, in order to devise a strategy for combating the disease. The group officially became the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) in early 1982. Kramer dramatized his experiences as an AIDS activist in the play The Normal Heart. Kramer was himself diagnosed with the HIV virus in 1988, though the virus never developed into AIDS. In 1996, Kramer received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature. His life and career were chronicled in the documentary “Larry Kramer in Love & Anger” (2015).(Britannica.com, 2024)

ABOUT TED HOERL, director

In a fifty-year-long career, TED HOERL’s extensive directing credits include Redtwist

productions of Collected Stories and Keely and Du; he also appeared in the Redtwist

production of Death of a Salesman. Additional directing credits include And Miss

Reardon Drinks a Little (New American Theatre); Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll (Vine

Productions); Michael Frayn’s Chinamen (Prairie Dell’Arte Theatre); Twilight Serenade

(Red Hen Theatre); Charlie’s Oasis, Museum and Bar (New Tuners); Frankie and

Johnny in the Claire de Lune (Gorilla Tango); King of Hearts (Shoestring Theatre at the

University of Chicago); Alarms and Excursions (Cobalt Theatre; Jeff Nomination, Best

Ensemble); The Flu Season and Stage Door (North Central College); Lips Together,

Teeth Apart (Eclipse Theatre); Arcadia (Promethean Theatre); and seven productions at the Theatre Conservatory of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt

University. Other acting credits include Bus Stop, Knights of the Round Table, Woman

in Mind, Haunting Julia and Plaza Suite (Eclipse Theatre); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

and A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre); Arcadia, Arms and the Man and The

Importance of Being Earnest (Remy Bumppo); The Little Foxes and Buried Child

(Shattered Globe); The Weir and 1776 (Signal Ensemble); Are You Now or Have You

Ever Been? (Jeff Award: Best Ensemble), A Doll’s House and The Millionairess (Next

Theatre); Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Promethean); Dreamboy and Fascination (About

Face; founding member) and Incident at Vichy (Writer’s Theatre). Most recently he

appeared as “Vanya” in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Dunes Summer

Theatre).

COMING UP IN REDTWIST’S 2023 - 2024 SEASON

Due to construction of the Redtwist space, the world premiere of Bottle Fly by Jacqueline Goldfinger, will be presented in the next season. Goldfinger, author of last seasons' Babel, pens this winner of the 2017 Yale Drama Series prize, Bottle Fly explores love in many guises and all of its complexity.

In late 2024, Redtwist Theatre launches its first ever Twisted PlayFest featuring 10 Chicago playwrights, December 17 - 22. The festival includes one fully produced script, at least three staged readings and at least six stand readings. In year one, plays will be chosen for every level of production by the Twisted PlayFest reading committee.

ABOUT REDTWIST THEATRE RENOVATIONS

Redtwist partnered with the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development to build back better following the COVID quarantine. Redtwist was selected as a finalist for a 3-to-1 matching grant from the City of Chicago, which provided up to $250,000 in funding to renovate its performance space, lobby and street frontage.

These renovations mean a fresh face for Redtwist’s corner of Bryn Mawr, drawing in audiences from across the city and bringing new life to a Historic District that has been devastated by COVID-19. On the Western side of the building, the lobby was reimagined; increasing accessibility and installing a new cafe to provide concessions for all Redtwist shows. Finally, it means a revived performance space with added production capabilities, which will allow the Company to continue creating thrilling performances in its intimate black box space.

ABOUT REDTWIST THEATRE

Redtwist is an award-winning theatre company that stages up close and personal contemporary dramas annually in its intimate black box theatre housed proudly within the heart of Edgewater’s Bryn Mawr Historic District.

Intimate performances at Redtwist are designed to place the theatre patron in the midst of the stories being told, making them accessible and riveting. Redtwist strives for excellence with every project and endeavors to take risks while offering opportunities for up-and-coming actors, designers and directors to work with established talent. Redtwist provides the very best Chicago storefront theatre experience from excellence on stage, to warm hospitality in a clean, friendly environment.