Outre Theatre Company to Return to Boca with Powerful THE NORMAL HEART

Outré Theatre Company, in conjunction with Showtime Performing Arts Theatre, is proud to announce its return to Boca Raton with Larry Kramer's searing drama The Normal Heart. Based on Kramer's own experiences as a gay man in New York in the early 1980s, and recently adapted for film by Ryan Murphy, The Normal Heart serves as a haunting reminder of Ground Zero of the AIDS epidemic, an epidemic which thirty years later still has no cure.

New York City, 1981. Ned Weeks, a writer and activist, joins forces with Dr. Emma Brookner as they watch an unknown disease stalk, shatter, and kill the gay community. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands die horrific deaths, while those in power ignore it in the name of political expediency. Ned attempts to rally the gay community together, and Emma searches for the cause of the disease, as they watch the lives of those they love crumble and drown. Newsweek called the play "a fierce and moving human drama," while the Time Out New York praised it as "raw, scary, and galvanizing." Winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Revival, as well as the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critic's Circle Award, and the Drama League Award, The Normal Heart reminds us that the fight we now face began decades ago, and the voices of those who came before us still guide our steps.

"The Normal Heart is the story of thousands of unknown heroes," says director Doug Wetzel, "advocates, lovers, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, doctors, and nurses, who know what it is like to fight against an enemy with, literally, no name. It is the story of not just one man's fight against the establishment but tens of thousands of men who stood up and fought for the right to live and die with dignity." Wetzel goes on to argue, "In a world that would rather let you die than acknowledge you are alive, most of all The Normal Heart is a love story. The love of life, lovers, partners, friends, family and most importantly, the love of oneself."

The Normal Heart runs September 22 through October 9, 2016, with performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. All performances are at the Showtime Performing Arts Theatre, 503 SE Mizner Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33432.