The Normal Heart

American Conservatory Theater’s in-depth dramaturgical series, Words on Plays, enhances the theatergoing experience by offering A.C.T.’s audience a variety of ways to learn about the plays, productions, and people who make theater happen. Each entertaining and informative issue of Words on Plays contains a helpful synopsis, interviews with artists involved in bringing A.C.T.’s production to the stage, and original articles about the historical and cultural context of the play. Primarily aimed at A.C.T.’s San Francisco audiences, the insightful Words on Plays series is a wonderful resource for theater lovers, practitioners, and students anywhere.The Normal Heart edition of Words on Plays includes an interview with famed director George C. Wolfe and essays examining the life of playwright Larry Kramer and gay New York before and during the AIDS epidemic. Articles also explore the origins and modus operandi of HIV/AIDS and where we are today in our battle against the virus. This issue is capped with a thorough glossary of the early 1980s references made in the play.