One in Two
Written by Donja R. Love
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
The New Group at Pershing Square Signature Center
December 30, 2019
Production website
💉💉 out of 5.

The statistics behind one is two are just frightening.  The play is built on a study that shows that of the men who have sex with other white men, 1 in 11 will contact AIDS.  If the men men are hispanic the odds move to one in five. Most terrifying of all, one in two black man will contract HIV – and this is NOW – not some decade old statistic.

I have to admit I was a bit reluctant to see another play that deals with gay men and HIV/AIDS.  I have truly seen all the plays that have come out – from As Is and Normal Heart to Angels in America and The Inheritance.  I have seen these hallmark productions and all of the good, bad and ugly productions in between.  What excited me here was a chance to see one showing TODAY’s landscape and to explore the world of this epediimc from a black perspective.

I was most intrigued by the theatrical machinery of the show.  The play is set in a steam-room-like purgatory where three black men are rather imprisoned on stage – waiting – before the audience has even settled down.  And then we. the audience, can vote (by a clapping of hands) which of the three men are to play the character that is to receive the AIDS diagnosis – BUT the applause test reads very false.  Each of the actors got the same amount of applause – and i guess the actors just decided who won the vote themself.  It would have been much better if they could have thought of a different way to involve the audience where we really BELIEVED we had a say!

Now the downside of the play.  It was so damn predictable.  More than just knowing what was going to happen next in the story, I was able to predict HOW it was going to be shown.  It was just too full of theatrical gimmicks that I had seen before.  The simulated sex, partial nudity, cliche drag language and shock talk just seemed to shock for shocks sake.  The play is strongest when it places on stage the experience of living black, queer, and HIV positive. In those moments when Donja R. Love’s new play presents, a straightforward life with HIV, it’s something unique. Unfortunately, the play does not do this often.  

Scattered moments of Donté’s life make up most of the play, and they are a mixed bag. The three act out his diagnosis, his struggle with the news, his drinking, unprotected sex, and a descent into self-hatred. I just wished that the playwright had chosen far fewer of these scenes and dug i a bit deeper so I could really understand and CARE about the man behind the behavior.

The play added another cliche of clocks counting the number of men that have become infected.  It might have an impact to audience members who are seeing their first play on AIDS but for me, it was a most predictable gimmick.  I just couldn’t get into this play, and I am trying to figure out if is the play itself or a price paid by this rather jaded audience member.