The AIDS Plays Project
Queer Plays from Trailblazing Writers Lost to HIV/AIDS
The AIDS Plays Project
Queer Plays from Trailblazing Writers Lost to HIV/AIDS
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Description
Trailblazing, visionary, and too often neglected – this collection honours and celebrates seven queer playwrights from America, Ireland, and Britain whose lives were cut short by HIV/AIDS.
Curated by The AIDS Plays Project, and edited by its director, Alastair Curtis, this anthology revives seven plays written by pioneering queer playwrights, providing a platform that restores and mends the link between queer artists and their audiences that has largely been severed by the ongoing AIDS crisis.
The plays in this collection showcase a striking a striking, eclectic range of styles and stories - from a nineteenth-century drag-infused riff on La Traviata to a comedy about a bisexual ghost haunting rural Massachusetts, to a San Francisco-set tragedy about phone sex and an urgent exploration of Irish politics in a London pub. It also highlights these writers' lasting impact on queer culture and activism-whether by introducing the first bisexual characters on Broadway, performing agitprop theatre on the streets of South London, or promoting sex positivity during the darkest days of the epidemic.
The lives of each playwright are retold through moving accounts by those who knew them, brought their writing to life on stage, or championed their work. These are paired with responses from contemporary queer theatre-makers, forging an intergenerational connection and contributing to an ongoing exploration of twentieth-century queer history.
Ultimately, the collection acts as a blueprint for how studying and performing the queer past can shape the future of queer playwriting and performance, and ensures that the voices of the writers lost in the AIDS epidemic are not forgotten.
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Table of Contents
Amelia Abraham
Introduction
Sam Moore and Alastair Curtis
Charles Ludlam (1943 - 1987)
“I'm not serious and I don't intend to be, ever”
In conversation with Charles Busch and Lola Pashalinski
Camille (1973)
Madcap Communal Ritual
Lauren John Joseph
James Kirkwood Jr. (1924 - 1989)
“The Baskin Robbins of writers”
In conversation with Arthur Beckenstein
P.S. Your Cat is Dead! (1975)
Wonderfully Promiscuous
Marcelo Dos Santos
George Whitmore (1945 - 1989)
“Mr Gay Plus Plus”
In conversation with Victor Bumbalo
The Rights (1980)
Intergenerational Gay Exchange
Jack Holden
Harry Kondoleon (1955 - 1994)
“His plays build toward something magical”
In conversation with Don Shewey and Stephen Soba
Christmas on Mars (1983)
Delight and Surprise
James Ijames
Alan Bowne (1945 - 1989)
“Good ol' William”
In conversation with Barbara Hayes
Spook (1985)
The Dirty Details
Charlie Josephine
Colm Ó Clúbhán (1954 - 1989)
“Out and proud and angry to be dying so soon”
In conversation with Mary Evans Young, Derek Evans and Stephen Gee
Reasons for Staying(1986)
An Irish Masterpiece
Margaret Perry
Robert Chesley (1943 - 1990)
“The kindest man”
In conversation with Victor Bumbalo
Jerker, or the Helping Hand (1986)
Intimate Theatre of Desire
Jordan Tannahill
Afterword
Michael Bronski
Product details
| Published | Oct 29 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 528 |
| ISBN | 9781350588097 |
| Imprint | Methuen Drama |
| Illustrations | 7 b+w author photos 10 rehearsal photos (tbc) |
| Series | Methuen Drama Play Collections |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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