The Normal Heart

**BY LARRY KRAMER**
Directed by Michelle Carey & Anna Loren
3rd Nov - 27 Nov, 2022
Special Performance on World AIDS Day
1 December.

Director’s Notes

“We’re all going to go crazy, living this epidemic every minute, while the rest of the world

goes on out there, all around us, as if nothing is happening, going on with their own lives and

not knowing what it’s like, what we’re going through. We’re living through war, but where

they’re living its peacetime, and we’re all in the same country”.

The Normal Heart reminds us that behind every government decision, or lack thereof, or public prejudice, there is a human person…someone who perhaps needlessly suffers, and in this case – a whole community who can be ignored. What does it take for those who don’t fit into the accepted societal stereotypes, to be heard, seen, and cared for? We have all experienced the , care, and financial assistance of governments throughout the COVID pandemic. It is shocking to juxtapose this alongside the horror of the AIDS pandemic and the sluggish inaction worldwide, born out of deep fear and bigotry towards the gay community.

We are rightly outraged by the prejudice and angered by the discrimination that Larry Kramer has exposed and so carefully crafted into his largely autobiographical work, The Normal Heart. Stories like this must be told and retold, in the hope that we learn from our past to forge a brighter future. The medium of theatre allows us to do this in a very real and present way, and our little black box demands that you are right there in the action. We hope that you are also drawn into the world of Ned Weeks, that you feel his frustration, his passion and of course, his heart. His love for Felix, and the relationship that grows out of this, is the fighting breath of this play.

We are honoured to welcome many new, talented faces to the Ad Astra stage. We are especially excited to meet and work with Madeleine Little – herself a wheelchair user – in the shared role of Emma Brookner. Madeleine is not only a skilled actor, she is also an advocate for performers with disabilities, and is working with Ad Astra to encourage a more accessible space. We look forward to what this will bring to the company in future.

Every member of this incredible cast has dug deep, confronted their own place in the larger narrative, and bravely offered huge parts of themselves as they have come to know and embody the characters of The Normal Heart. We acknowledge what a privilege it is to be trusted to shape the experience, skill, and heart of each one of our actors into this beautiful play. Our biggest love and gratitude to Caitlin, Cale, B’Elanna, Gregory, Felix, Madeleine, Janelle, Sam, Rad, Mathew, Tom, Liam and Luke. Thank you for being brave enough to come on the journey.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Michelle & Anna

About the play

“The Normal Heart was first presented on 21 April 1985 at the Public Theatre in New York City, New York, in a New York Shakespeare Festival Production, produced by Joseph Papp.”

Fierce, powerful and heart breaking. What is a pandemic like when it’s affecting a minority - it’s like being in a war when the rest of the world is at peace. Deafening silence from Government, the media and even your own brother…..

We look into the world through the eyes of Jewish American author, Ned Weeks, the gay founder of a prominent HIV advocacy committee. Ned is loud, confrontational and passionate about getting the message out about this disease while around him his friends are dying and the various government bodies are silent. He is faced with a hostile government even a hostile gay community.

Dr. Emma Brookner, a physician and survivor of polio, as a consequence of which she is using a wheelchair, is the most experienced with this strange new outbreak and bemoans the lack of medical knowledge on the illness, encouraging the abstinence of gay men for their own safety, since it is unknown yet even how the disease is spread.

Ned, a patient and friend of Brookner, calls upon his lawyer brother, Ben, to help fund his crisis organization; however, Ben's attitude toward his brother is to give merely passive support, ultimately exposing his apparent homophobia.

For the first time in his life, meanwhile, Ned falls in love, beginning a relationship with New York Times writer Felix Turner.

This play is passionate, witty, argumentative, heartbreaking, funny and so much more. It is over 30 years since it first hit the stages of the world to critical acclaim, 40 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic and more than a year since the passing of playwright Larry Kramer. At a time when we have just seen the world come together, governments move mountains and love and compassion abound, this story speaks of a completely different response.

Creatives

Cast

Ned Weeks - Gregory J Wilken

Felix Turner - Felix Jarvis

Dr Emma Brookner - Madeleine Little and Janelle Bailey

(The role of Dr Emma Brookner will performed by Madeleine Little on Nov 3, 4, 6, 10, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26 and 27 and Janelle Bailey on Nov 5, 11, 12, 13, 20, 24 and Dec 1)

Bruce Niles - Sam Hocking

Mickey Marcus - Mathew Alec Costin

Tommy Boatwright - Rad Valance

Ben Weeks - Luke O’Neill

Hiram Keebler, David and Examining Doctor - Tom Harwood

Craig Donner/Grady - Liam Wallis

Creatives

Directors - Michelle Carey & Anna Loren

Producer - Gregory J Wilken

Assistant Director & Costumer - Caitlin Hill

Assistant Producer & Stage Manager - Cale Dennis

Lighting Design and Tech - B’Elanna Hill

Artists - Charlotte Trevaskes, Cale Dennis, B’Elanna Hill

Photography - Christopher Sharman, Colin Bushell

Intimacy Coaching - Michelle Miall

Interviews

Two very different theatre companies in Adelaide and Brisbane will mount productions this year of The Normal Heart – Larry Kramer’s powerful play set in 1980’s New York at Ground Zero of the AIDS crisis. Beth Keehn explores why the play still resonates today and interviews Gregory J Wilken, Executive Producer of Ad Astra Theatre Company and Mitchell Butel, Artistic Director of State Theatre Company South Australia who are both playing the central lead role of Ned Weeks.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read Interview

“It is approximately 40 years since this was first performed, and now is the perfect time for it to be retold when people have witnessed all that was done by governments and communities to fight COVID-19 compared to what didn’t happen when a virus hit a community that many felt deserved it”.

Frooty Magazine | Read Interview

Reviews

There is something to be said for a small theatre, the closeness and the proximity to the performers delivers an experience more captivating than your average night at the theatre. Couple this with a powerful text and a talented cast and any audience member will be moved more than they could have imagined. Such is the case for Ad Astra’s performance of 'The Normal Heart'. With an ensemble cast of 9 in a theatre built for just over 40 guests this performance is powerful, poignant, and unmissable.

Michael James - Frooty Magazine | Read full review

While it may be a harrowing true story, in Ad Astra’s hands the drama of “The Normal Heart” is gripping and also inspirational. The play is a long one, but it is absolutely absorbing throughout as it presents us with several sides of its issues. Its unflinching look at a horrific time in our history will wring you out and leave you battered in way only live theatre can.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains Brisbane | Read full review

Ad Astra continue to surprise and impress with their versatile theatre space and high calibre acting, presenting a highly polished and deeply moving performance of The Normal Heart that celebrated the staunch activism and advocacy of the time and mourned the lives lost with equal vigour.

Elise Lawrence - Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review

Ad Astra’s new production of The Normal Heart opened to a sold-out crowd who were visibly moved by Larry Kramer’s heart-breaking autobiographical play.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review

The strongest component of the show was the stellar cast.

Annabel Gilbert - TheatreHaus | Read full review

Ad Astra have staged The Normal Heart in a simplistic and slick style, directed by Michelle Carey and Anna Loren. The cast, led by experienced actor, Gregory Wilken as Ned Weeks, are confident and compelling.

Lilian Harrington - Absolute Theatre | Read full review