LGBTQ Activism and Theaters
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A flyer for Rebecca Ranson's play, Warren. The play was produced for the first time at 7 Stages in Atlanta in 1984 and later produced for the CDC's international conference on AIDS.
Courtesy of Georgia State University. Libraries, 7 Stages Theatre (Atlanta, Ga.) Records (M219).
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Jon Goldman portrays the title character, Warren, in Ranson's play. Warren deals with one man's struggle after a positive AIDS diagnosis, and it is one of the first plays ever to tackle the subject.
Courtesy of Georgia State University. Libraries, 7 Stages Theatre (Atlanta, Ga.) Records (M219).
During the 1980s, Georgia theaters produced work that raised awareness and empathy for LGBTQ issues. No one was more influential in this regard than Rebecca Ranson. An Atlanta-based activist who dedicated much of her life to promoting art throughout the South, Ranson established theater programs and the literary magazine Amethyst. After a close friend, Warren Johnston, contracted AIDS, she dedicated her work to documenting the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic. In honor of him, she wrote Warren, a play about a man and his community coming to terms with an AIDS diagnosis. In partnership with 7 Stages, Ranson premiered the play in August of 1984, a year before the premiere of As Is, which is commonly considered the first play on the subject. In 1985 Warren was produced across the country, performed as a benefit for the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force, and staged by invitation at the Centers for Disease Control's first international conference for AIDS awareness, held in Atlanta.