What do you think?
Rate this book
As is: A play
1985 Random House hardcover, William M Hoffman. The story of the central character's struggle with AIDs and its impact on him, his friends, lovers, family, and the medical community is told in a seamless stream-of-consciousness flow that has a compelling inner logic and a meaningful structure.
97 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
3 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 13, 2025
Une lecture très intéressante. Il va falloir que je la relise pour bien évaluer ce que j’aime dans cette pièce.
Mais en gros, bel usage de dark humour, la théatralisation un peu out there des scènes. Y’avait une vibe qui se dégageait de ce texte. J’aime.
Mais en gros, bel usage de dark humour, la théatralisation un peu out there des scènes. Y’avait une vibe qui se dégageait de ce texte. J’aime.
August 19, 2010
This was the first piece I ever saw produced commercially on Broadway about AIDS and historically is a direct precursor to Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA. Just as in ANGELS, Hoffman's play deals with a pair of gay men in the midst of a break-up when one of them discovers that he has AIDS. Unlike Prior Walter and
Louis Ironson in ANGELS, Hoffman's couple decides to stay together, stick it out and face the world "as is". The play has wildly funny moments that almost counter-balance the heartbreaking one's, and there are many. Frank Rich, in his original NY Times review, quotes a hospice worker -- a sort of narrator/nurse/saint -- who sums up not just her own job, but playwright Hoffman's as well -- "My job is not to bring enlightenment, only comfort". His piece brings a measure of comfort, yes, but also sets off an alarm that Kushner was still sounding eight years later.
Louis Ironson in ANGELS, Hoffman's couple decides to stay together, stick it out and face the world "as is". The play has wildly funny moments that almost counter-balance the heartbreaking one's, and there are many. Frank Rich, in his original NY Times review, quotes a hospice worker -- a sort of narrator/nurse/saint -- who sums up not just her own job, but playwright Hoffman's as well -- "My job is not to bring enlightenment, only comfort". His piece brings a measure of comfort, yes, but also sets off an alarm that Kushner was still sounding eight years later.
October 18, 2017
This play was published by William M. Hoffman in 1985. It opened at the Circle Rep off Broadway in March that year, and was so popular it was opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater in May. This play is about two ex lovers, one gets AIDS and the other takes him back and cares for him. Set in the early years of the disease it portrays the fear and how friends and family members reacted. It also shows how important lovers were and the weave of the gay family taking responsibility to care for each other during this crisis. In 1985 it was nominated for a Tony; it won the Drama Desk Award for an Outstanding New Play. It was revived in NYC 2010.
The dialogue is great and there are scenes described that actors can improvise, which makes it a malleable play that can be influenced by the actors and the times. I would love to see it performed.
Check out this trailer without dialogue from a production at Finborough Theatre in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwdF6...
The dialogue is great and there are scenes described that actors can improvise, which makes it a malleable play that can be influenced by the actors and the times. I would love to see it performed.
Check out this trailer without dialogue from a production at Finborough Theatre in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwdF6...
September 7, 2018
3.5?
read as part of The Way We Live Now: American Plays and the AIDS Crisis but i decided to add them separately
read as part of The Way We Live Now: American Plays and the AIDS Crisis but i decided to add them separately
October 20, 2017
a nice play showing the different views, thoughts, and handling of AIDS patients during the height of the epidemic
November 30, 2020
Read The Normal Heart or Angels in America instead.
July 18, 2021
I read this play in college and reread it today. I remembered discussing this play and the discussions around the stigma of AIDS in the 80s/90s. I think seeing this play is more powerful than just reading the lines.
May 13, 2020
Spectacularly demonstrates the heart of the AIDS crisis. Moving and profound, though I’m not sure how I feel about the ending and the romance found within.
April 25, 2020
Political, tender and believable. Made me cry on first reading - the honesty and raw power of the dialogue simply bowls you over. I would love to see this performed as the action of the play can be shaped so much by the actors' choices.
March 16, 2016
I have probably read this play now for the sixth time since I have begun working on my dissertation, and every time I stumble across a new layer of meanings, so to speak... so I shall state that which I had stated before,
AS IS is a pioneering work, technically ahead of its time yet so profoundly topical and yet not as political as The Normal Heart; unlike his contemporary Kramer, Hoffman's slap is much more implied.
AS IS is a pioneering work, technically ahead of its time yet so profoundly topical and yet not as political as The Normal Heart; unlike his contemporary Kramer, Hoffman's slap is much more implied.
June 14, 2015
This was apparently ground breaking at the time, but it feels like a minor work in the cannon of "AIDS plays" as crass as that sounds. Funnier than I expected, but I don't think it will stick with me.
April 18, 2016
Pretty sure I saw the movie in the late 1980s, but I really didn't remember the plot. Strange how much it reminds me of Angels in America. Or maybe not so strange.
January 9, 2009
One of the first plays to focus on the AIDS epidemic.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews