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T-Cells & Sympathy: Monologues in the Age of Aids
In this collection of thirty-four monologues, Michael Kearns challenges the actor to identify with characters that cross the lines of age, race, gender, class, and sexual preference. The monologues are about people who have lives beyond their health status and they represent one artist's response to the AIDS crisis." T-Cells & Sympathy" stands as a testament to Kearns' philosophy that it is the actor's "responsibility to play all things human."
- GenresPlays
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 1995
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December 10, 2018
This book reminded me of the song "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors, for each of its characters seem to have occupied a place within the very eye of a storm called Life, and one made all the more harrowing and merciless by an epidemic called AIDS. It is the kaleidoscope of characters and their various fates that quickly pulled me into the book and relentlessly held me in its grip until the last few pages.
I don't wish to sound as if i am comparing the book to a thrill ride, but there are certain similarities. This is unsparing material that reads like a punch to the gut, and that is exactly what gives it its power. It takes us into the lives of its characters, most of which are pretty messy to begin with, and then places them in a direct crash course with an unexpected, devastating, and (then) fatal medical condition.
That being said, it is not an unpleasant reading experience. Its grit is leavened with humor and laced with the amusing eccentricity and humanity of its characters. It is most interesting how each of them cope with their fate, some with rage, some with sorrow, others with unbelievable courage or a brave shrug and seeming acceptance of the unfairness of it all. The monologues sometimes clearly indicate lives lived on the edge, and leave the reader appalled that characters who are already "living just enough, just enough for the city" need face the final blow, the horrid realization that life can and sometimes does get worse.
Having lived through the epidemic myself and experienced its dark surrealism and relentless emotional over-load of human tragedy reading this book reminded me of a sweet and gentle room-mate I had in 1988 who was losing a number of friends, just as we all were, to AIDS. One day when I came home from work he casually told me had made a trip to Jack-in-the Box to get a double cheeseburger for a friend because "it was what he wanted before he died". I hid my reaction, but that made me cry inside in private. It just seemed so easy to relate to, so human, and yes, so damn sad... A lot of the characters in this book just wanted one more cheeseburger, one more wondrous smell of the roses, one more experience of human affection or one more fabulous roll in the hay, and who could blame them?
Most of all this is a book that refuses to allow us to sweep the epidemic of AIDS under the convenient rug of time. It takes us back to the fear, the paranoia, the brutality and savagery of an illness that caused an unbelievable amount of suffering in the '80s and '90s, decades which are now romanticized by certain people who find our current times disturbing and troubled.
I have no doubts that the writer, who is an actor/director/teacher, can walk out on a stage and play all these people, for he is most of all an astute observer of human nature as all great actors and writers must be. If the subject matter makes you recoil or you think its just going to be too damn sad to read I advise that you read it anyway, for within these pages is the truth. And we all know the truth sometimes hurts, yet makes us stronger.
This is more than just a book; it's a torch in the dark that forces us to look and not just turn away at a chapter of human history that illustrates how vulnerable and fragile our lives are and reminds us that much as we may comfort ourselves with feelings of security, strength, or self-delusional invincibility, we exist on a plane rife with mine-fields, most of which we cannot possibly predict. We are only passing through this plane; all the more reason for compassion, kindness, and reaching out to one another. with helping hands. And all the more reason to document the good, bad, and the ugly of our short lives on earth just as this book does. Don't be afraid to read this book. As Grace Jones sings in the incendiary opening track of her album HURRICANE, which somehow seems musically expressive of at least some of what's in these pages, "This is Life"...
I don't wish to sound as if i am comparing the book to a thrill ride, but there are certain similarities. This is unsparing material that reads like a punch to the gut, and that is exactly what gives it its power. It takes us into the lives of its characters, most of which are pretty messy to begin with, and then places them in a direct crash course with an unexpected, devastating, and (then) fatal medical condition.
That being said, it is not an unpleasant reading experience. Its grit is leavened with humor and laced with the amusing eccentricity and humanity of its characters. It is most interesting how each of them cope with their fate, some with rage, some with sorrow, others with unbelievable courage or a brave shrug and seeming acceptance of the unfairness of it all. The monologues sometimes clearly indicate lives lived on the edge, and leave the reader appalled that characters who are already "living just enough, just enough for the city" need face the final blow, the horrid realization that life can and sometimes does get worse.
Having lived through the epidemic myself and experienced its dark surrealism and relentless emotional over-load of human tragedy reading this book reminded me of a sweet and gentle room-mate I had in 1988 who was losing a number of friends, just as we all were, to AIDS. One day when I came home from work he casually told me had made a trip to Jack-in-the Box to get a double cheeseburger for a friend because "it was what he wanted before he died". I hid my reaction, but that made me cry inside in private. It just seemed so easy to relate to, so human, and yes, so damn sad... A lot of the characters in this book just wanted one more cheeseburger, one more wondrous smell of the roses, one more experience of human affection or one more fabulous roll in the hay, and who could blame them?
Most of all this is a book that refuses to allow us to sweep the epidemic of AIDS under the convenient rug of time. It takes us back to the fear, the paranoia, the brutality and savagery of an illness that caused an unbelievable amount of suffering in the '80s and '90s, decades which are now romanticized by certain people who find our current times disturbing and troubled.
I have no doubts that the writer, who is an actor/director/teacher, can walk out on a stage and play all these people, for he is most of all an astute observer of human nature as all great actors and writers must be. If the subject matter makes you recoil or you think its just going to be too damn sad to read I advise that you read it anyway, for within these pages is the truth. And we all know the truth sometimes hurts, yet makes us stronger.
This is more than just a book; it's a torch in the dark that forces us to look and not just turn away at a chapter of human history that illustrates how vulnerable and fragile our lives are and reminds us that much as we may comfort ourselves with feelings of security, strength, or self-delusional invincibility, we exist on a plane rife with mine-fields, most of which we cannot possibly predict. We are only passing through this plane; all the more reason for compassion, kindness, and reaching out to one another. with helping hands. And all the more reason to document the good, bad, and the ugly of our short lives on earth just as this book does. Don't be afraid to read this book. As Grace Jones sings in the incendiary opening track of her album HURRICANE, which somehow seems musically expressive of at least some of what's in these pages, "This is Life"...
Displaying 1 of 1 review