That is more or less what I have said here in the past. People get very literal about the show sometimes, suggesting that the Giant represents AIDS. Of course, the Giant does not represent AIDS. But in 1987-1989, it was pretty difficult for a lot of people to sit in the Martin Beck and not think of AIDS when the Witch said, ”Wake up! People are dying all around you. You're not the only one to suffer a loss. When you're dead, you're dead.”
Having said that, the first two times I saw the show, during early previews, those lines did not hit me, and I think they were there. Whether it was seeing the show a third time, or whether it was just that the changes made during previews tremendously improved the show's focus, those lines really hit me that time. At that performance, I thought those lines had been added since I had last seen the show, but now I'm pretty sure they were always there.
But even then if you had asked me if the Giant was meant to represent AIDS, I think I would have said no, of course not. But I also tend to believe that what was going on in the world affected and informed the writing, and that certainly included AIDS. AIDS informed the writing, even if only subconsciously. The world affects writer(s). They don't live isolated in a tower, like Rapunzel. They know what's going on in the world. Lapine and Sondheim certainly knew what was going on with friends and associates. |
