“I told you I had a story”
Photo by Dean Kalyan via Phoenix Theatre.
In 1981, a disease appeared among the queer and drug-using communities in New York. As the disease continued to spread, it was initially coined as gay-related immune deficiency (GRID), as it was believed that the disease was isolated to the queer community. In 1982, it was renamed acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
AIDS would go on to devastate the queer community of North America during the 80s and 90s, now commonly known as the AIDS crisis. In My Day, currently showing at the Phoenix Theatre, explores the AIDS crisis and its effects on Vancouver. The play follows Rick (played by Elliot Baskin Smith), a stand-in for the playwright Rick Waines, as he transcribes real accounts of people who lived through the AIDS crisis, while also grappling with his own failures and guilt.
In My Day is structured around excerpts of real stories. The excerpts are acted out by actors and chorus members as the story travels through the 80s, depicting Vancouver’s queer community pre-AIDS, during the first appearances of AIDS, and the resulting palpable sense of fear in not knowing how it spreads. In My Day also shows the damage done by AIDS at the intersections of different communities, accounts of the first experimental drugs to treat AIDS, and the eventual treatment.
The stories depicted are, importantly, all stories from Vancouver, from the community that Rick lived in. They aren’t the stories of strangers, nor fictional creations. They were, and are, stories of people Rick knew.
The different perspectives in the play are structured in a rough chronological order. Aside from Rick and the ghost/memory of Rick’s lover Lim (played by Taka Lee), there are few recurring characters. These excerpts of real accounts of the AIDS crisis unfolding are afforded serious weight by the play, exemplified by the dialogue, which retains the stutters and repeated words only found in real conversations.
All the chorus members are given a chance to play a named role, and the chorus itself is utilized very well. The large crowd of actors conveys the size of the queer community before the AIDS crisis, and how the sudden deaths leave gigantic holes in people’s lives. In one scene, near the end of the production, three circles of people waltzing shrinks as chorus members leave, until only one dancing couple remains, surrounded by single dancers, arms outstretched in the shape of their missing partners.
The chorus is well staged, moving from scene to scene seamlessly, introducing the audience to different perspectives in a way that never feels awkward. Each scene flows into the other, building off each other and never feeling forced
The framing device of Rick and Lim’s story, recurring throughout the play, provides a necessary structure for the play. The audience is shown a recording of a woman relaying a story before it fades away, and Rick is shown slowly transcribing it at his computer. Lim, or Rick’s memories of Lim, confronts Rick on his frustrations with the project, as well as expresses Rick’s guilt for what he did and didn’t do during the AIDS crisis.
In My Day is unmissable. It tells an important moment of history, and why it’s necessary to remember it. Because these were people who lived and died. Struggled to adapt. Found alternatives. Fought for justice and treatment. The Phoenix’s production does In My Day tremendous justice.
In My Day runs until March 21st. Tickets can be purchased on the Phoenix Theatre’s website.
