Highly charged male patrons dance rhythmically to New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle. It is the 1980s and the AIDS epidemic is the sleeping giant that will irrevocably change the world.

Larry Kramer’s pioneering, semi-autobiographical play The Normal Heart, about the AIDS epidemic in New York, premiered four decades ago and was met by a polarised world, heavily under the influence of prejudice and misinformation. The central character, Ned Weeks (Mitchell Butel) is based on Kramer’s lived experience. He rages against the extraordinarily slow response of his community and the gross apathy of the media and politicos to report on and fund AIDS research.

Mark Saturno and Mitchell Butel in The Normal Heart, State Theatre Company South Australia, 2022. Photo © Matt Byrne

Elegantly directed by Helpmann Award-winner Dean Bryant, this ambitious production is a detailed examination of the establishment and operation of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis support group, over a four-year period as they attempt to make the world pay attention. Despite being dotted with humour, this is a dark script, crammed with details of a frenetic, desperate and terrifying time.

Set and costume designer Jeremy Allen captures...