Arts&Entertainment
Play shows diverse battles of those
struggling with HIV, AIDS viruses
By Jason Hardy
Staff writer
Like any area of mass concern in American society, the worldwide
battle against AIDS has been both embraced and ignored by the mass
media.
^ Like a tide that raises and lowers at different
jTy* times, the visibility of the AIDS battle varies
greatly, often losing sight of the people who
V are affected by the disease every day.
^ It is this anonymity that Snap
f Productions, an Omaha organization dedicat
ed to education and support of AIDS-related
programs, is trying to erase. Snap uses theatrical
productions in an attempt to humanize the effects
/ uic aiuo virus nas on /American society. 10 runner
y this cause, it is putting on a production entitled “Elegies
for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens” that tries to cap
ture those feelings.
“You kind of run the gamut of emotions with this
show, rather than it just being like, ‘Oh, it’s a horrible, sad
ming, ” said Michal Simpson, the artistic director for
Snap. “It works really well because each character gets a
chance to tell who they were and how they contracted the
**'"''* > virus, so you really get insight into the disease.”
The piece, written by Bill Russell with music by Janet
Hood, is comprised of 32 monologues, each told by a different char
acter who has died of AIDS. Throughout the monologues, four char
acters still living with AIDS contribute music to the story.
Snap president Roxanne Wach said it was the large cast
size that enabled the piece to connect with a diverse audi
ence.
“You have everybody from someone who had a one
night stand to a street person who’s an intravenous drug
user ann a granamomer wno naa a
blood transfusion,” Wach said,
'.h try're told in monologues
dim aicii’t very lengthy, it’s not like an in
«ching thing where you’re
going 10 want out of the theater exhausted.
“They’re touching for the moment,
but the lingering sadness comes from the
fact that you realize that AIDS is something
that affects millions of people every day.”
wacn said despite the limited exposure
tne audience has with each character, the
piece in its entirety is able to make a very
strong connection between the ideas pre
sented on the stage and the people sitting in
the audience.
Elegies for Angels,
^ Punks and Raging
Queens
¥: j|
WHERE:Dundee Dinner
Theatre, 5021 Underwood
Ave., Omaha
\ WHEN: March 9 - 25
' COST: Tickets: $17.50,
$15.50 for students
kv x THE SKINNY: Monologue
show a tribute to AIDS
l§iJI§i victims.
It makes people aware of the scope of
the illness. It’s not just a gay piece, it’s not just a drug-user piece -
| :* really addresses the myriad of people AIDS affects,” she said.
“In some ways, the show deals with the crisis of any terminal
illness and any kind of loss. Though it is a very specific topic,
5 it still addresses the grieving process.”
Director Randy Stevens said that connection was what
lie oped to achieve all along.
| “You’ll find a connection with at least one of the
characters in the show, whether it’s the drag queen
or the grandmother,” Stevens said. “That’s the
point of the piece - to show the toll that AIDS has
taken - that it doesn’t discriminate.”
Despite therather simple format of Elegies
for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens,” Stevens
said the importance of each individual mono
logue was so great that it was hard finding a
cast that could meet the number of differ
ent demands presented by each
character.
“It was very difficult trying to do a simple
show with that many diverse people, and it
came down to finding all the right actors to fit
the roles,” he said. “Once that was
decided, it was great because the people
} 1 cast were really excited about the project,
and I had a pretty clear picture in my head of
yj who their character was. The first rehearsals were
just one on one with me and the actor, so no one really had trouble
grasping format. It was just a matter of doing it over and over.”
Simpson said he and the other members of Snap were proud of the
piece, and audiences so far have actively embraced the show.
“We saw it as a method of broadening people’s concept of people
with HIY” he said. “We just want to let people know that the fight is
still going on.”