| I think of As Is and The Normal Heart as very different kinds of plays--the former more a domestic drama, with the public world in briefer interludes, but the focus on the couple; the latter more overtly and didactically political. As Is had more grace and nuanced emotion; The Normal Heart more sound and fury, signifying much. I am eternally grateful we had both. I think the Showtime version of As Is shows up for sale (used) on VHS from time to time. I think it would hold up perfectly fine, though, of course, some of the specific details would be limited by what was known and experienced by the time it was written. I wrote the playwright one of my only fan letters after I read it (it was published quickly), and he responded with a lovely note. I believe Hoffman became an academic and died just a few years ago. There are all kinds of ways of doing activism--his is, to me, as admirable as Kramer's (and I came top admire Kramer deeply--THINK what drama he would have made of all we are living through!) |
