Drawing on archival research, personal interviews, and text and performance analysis, this dissertation-based lecture reconstructs changes in Broadway culture wrought by the AIDS epidemic while critically examining consequent productions in relation to their social, political, and medical contexts. It addresses the following questions: How has Broadway theatre contributed to and been informed by contemporary audiences' understanding of HIV/AIDS? How has the AIDS epidemic affected working conditions? How have the commercial constraints of Broadway affected representations of AIDS?

Virginia Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  She received the 2010 "In the Spirit of Carleton" Alumni Association Award.  Additional research interests include the history of African American culture and performance in the Buffalo/Niagara region, intercultural theatre, the history of popular entertainment, and theatre iconography. 

This lecture co-sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, Departments of English, Theater, History, African/African American Studies, Office of Off-Campus Studies, Humanities Center, and Gender and Sexuality Center