Written by Larry Kramer. Directed by Shira Helena Gitlin. Scenic Design by Melody Hsu. Lighting Design by Michael Clark Wonson. Sound Design by Mackenzie Adamick. Costume Design by Zhihan (Sandra) Jia. The Black Box Theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, through July 9, 2023.
by Linda Chin
New Rep’s 2023-24 season opener, The Normal Heart, a largely autobiographical work by the late playwright/activist Larry Kramer, provides a little-seen lens into the surging AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Kramer’s occasionally humorous, mostly heartwarming, and ultimately heartbreaking drama tells the story of two writers, both gay men – loud and hot-headed protagonist Ned Weeks (Dylan C. Wack) and mild-mannered and more chill Felix Turner (Chingwe Padraig Sullivan). They reconnect after a random bathhouse encounter years before and become lovers and soulmates. The versatile Zach Kelley and Ken Yotsukura are the play’s Everymen, portraying multiple roles, including Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) director Tommy Boatwright and Mayor’s assistant Hiram Keebler, friends David, Craig, Grady, community volunteers, and health care workers). Equity actors Brian Demar Jones (as the closeted Citibank executive Bruce Niles), Luis Negrón (as Ned’s big brother Ben, a successful, straight lawyer), Cailin Doran (as the ultra-competent, compassionate physician-scientist Dr. Emma Brookner), and Will McGarrahan (as long-term City employee Mickey Marcus) display even, calm demeanors that lower the intensity of the narrative and strong acting skills that raise the bar of the performance.
Coincident with this run of The Normal Heart (June 26th) was a memorial service for Larry Kramer, who died three years ago in May 2020. Friends and colleagues (“friends and enemies” according to the NYTimes) gathered at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York’s West Village, where his Obie-award-winning play The Destiny of Me opened in 1992). Among the speakers who paid tribute to Kramer was Dr. Anthony Fauci, who had been accused in an “Open Letter” of being an incompetent idiot and a murderer for his inactions during the AIDS epidemic. After being his nemesis, the two reconciled and were close friends until Kramer’s death. In contrast, Angels in America Playwright Tony Kushner, who affectionately described Kramer as a “cranky old Jew, like my aunt Martha” admitted that their friendship never fully healed after Kramer publicly referred to him as a “sellout who abandoned his responsibilities to gay people.”
Though Larry Kramer’s irascible behavior was his trademark, Ned Weeks may have been more appealing if Wack lowered the volume/amount of yelling in his portrayal. His loudness – which also epitomizes the cultural stereotype of American Jews – alienated not only his friends and colleagues on stage but audience members within the small black box theater as well. On a related note, Ned and Ben did not appear to be brothers close in age, and Ben’s speech and mannerisms had no hints of their Jewish upbringing (proudly embodied by Larry’s older brother Arthur).
As provocative and off-putting Kramer’s words may have been in person, his use of language in The Normal Heart is elegant, thought-provoking, and thoroughly engaging. Despite the serious subject matter, the joy of the artists and audience members gathered in the lobby post-show – was palpable. The Mosesian’s Black Box Theater offers a very intimate experience for this New Rep production but sadly has a limited audience capacity. For tickets and information, go to: www.newrep.org.
