Open Space Arts to Present BEFORE WE ARE HISTORY Exploring AIDS-Era LGBTQ+ Theater

Open Space Arts will present Before We Are History, a three-week exploration of LGBTQ+ theater created during and in response to the AIDS crisis, from October 23 through November 8 in Chicago.

The project will bring together plays examining the lives, relationships, sexuality, fear, humor, friendship and resilience of gay men as AIDS transformed their communities. It will also highlight artists whose lives and writing continue to connect the history of the epidemic with the present.

Before We Are History will include a double bill of Jeff Hagedorn’s One and Lee Raines’ Blood Spill, a two-weekend production of Robert Chesley’s Jerker, or the Helping Hand and a one-night staged reading of Robin Swados’ A Quiet End.

The series takes its title from the urgency of revisiting these works while artists, activists and audience and community members who experienced the period can still share their memories and perspectives. It will also introduce a new generation of LGBTQ+ artists to the people and work that helped establish the path before them.

Selected performances will be followed by conversations with artists, activists, historians and community organizations addressing both the history of the AIDS epidemic and the continuing realities of HIV. Additional panelists, community partners, casting and special programming will be announced.

The series will begin October 23–25 with a double bill of One and Blood Spill. Performances will take place Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Directed by Rory Brady, One follows a young man attempting to understand and confront his AIDS diagnosis when the disease was still frighteningly new. First produced by Chicago’s Lionheart Gay Theatre Company in 1983, Hagedorn’s solo play is recognized as one of the earliest publicly produced theatrical works about AIDS.

Blood Spill, directed by Byron Stewart, is set in New York in 1992. The play follows HIV-positive playwright Kenny King as he confronts an old college friend who has become the artistic director of a major theater company. Their reunion develops into a confrontation about art, AIDS, institutional responsibility and who determines which stories are considered acceptable for the stage.

Raines developed Blood Spill through Write It Out!, the playwriting program founded by Donja R. Love for writers living with HIV. A former ACT UP member and longtime HIV survivor, Raines was diagnosed in 1989.

Robert Chesley’s Jerker, or the Helping Hand will follow from October 29 through November 8. Created and performed by brothers Jason Bowen and Joshua Bowen, the production commemorates the play’s 40th anniversary.

The play follows J.R. and Bert, two gay men who develop an increasingly intimate relationship through telephone conversations. What begins as anonymous sexual fantasy gradually becomes affection, friendship and emotional dependence as AIDS reshapes the world around them.

The series will also include a pay-what-you-can staged reading of A Quiet End on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. A director will be announced. Swados’ drama follows three gay men living together during the early years of AIDS as they confront friendship, chosen family, anger, illness, love and mortality. The reading also marks the play’s 40th anniversary.

A portion of ticket revenue and additional donations from Before We Are History will benefit Chicago Black Men’s Caucus, Vivent Health + TPAN and Season of Concern.