APRÍL 19, 1996 GAY PEOPLE's Chronicle 23

EVENINGS OUT

Story of dental HIV transmission is safe and dry

Patient A by Lee Blessing Reality Theatre

Reviewed by Nels P. Highberg

The story of Kimberly Bergalis, the Florida woman who claimed to have contracted HIV through a routine visit with her dentist David J. Acer, is one that continues to incite disgust, debate, and bewilderment. This story and the issues it presents make up the new play Patient A, currently ending its run at Columbus' Reality Theatre. The one word that characterizes this production, directed by Dee Shepherd, is safe, and this opinion arises primarily from the script by

Lee Blessing.

The play comes from a tradition of selfconscious theatre where the playwright becomes one of the characters, here performed by Jim Vess. The cast is rounded out with Angela Barch, as Kim Bergalis; and Charles Starr playing Matthew, a character who confronts Lee and Kim with various questions and issues.

On a sparse set comprised of only three gray boxes used for seats, these three characters function as voice boxes who spout out the accusations leveled at Kim on one side, and the support she received from the other, and numerous viewpoints in between.

Matthew, whom we learn is a gay man with AIDS, challenges Kim and questions

the attention given to her when so many others were dying. Lee and Kim describe the objections Kim faced when doctors at the CDC questioned her virginity and sexual history.

Essentially, the play presents all sides surrounding the case and leaves the ultimate judgment to the viewer. This “just the facts" approach does not give audiences any more information than other recent writings on the Bergalis case such as Elinor Burkett's journalistic presentation in The Gravest Show on Earth.

This factual technique could be useful in universities or other spaces where artistic presentations are often designed to present issues and generate dialogue. However, this

play does not create the powerful storytelling that makes up real drama.

One thing the play does make clear is that Bergalis is no longer a real person. Instead, she has become a composite of magazine covers, morning news show interviews, personal assumptions, and memory. Her story can no longer be said to be true or false because it is impossible to tell who Kim berly Bergalis, the person, really was any-

more.

The 1996-97 Reality Theatre season begins this summer with The Comedy of Tribes and includes performances of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Call 614-294-7541 for information and reservations.

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