title: Gay theatre, AIDS, and taboo: reconsidering Robert Chesley.
abstract: Theatre was among the first popular culture forms to address HIV/AIDS and did so memorably in such works as The Normal Heart, As Is, Love! Valor! Compassion!, and March of the Falsettos. As a response to criticisms of stage dramas focusing on HIV/AIDS in the main as undifferentiated and melodramatic, the author suggests critical consideration of two works by playwright Robert Chesley. In her analysis of Night Sweats and Jerker, the author argues Chesley offers an alternative perspective that is both liberatory and sex-positive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Theatre, University of Maryland-College Park, MD 20742, USA. rgavrila@umd.edu
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gavrila
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D004324:Drama / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013609:Taboo / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States