| A Quiet End | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Robin Swados |
| Date premiered | 1985 |
| Place premiered | International City Theater Long Beach, California |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | AIDS |
| Genre | Drama |
A Quiet End is a 1985 play written by American author Robin Swados (born 1953). It explores the lives of three gay men, all suffering from HIV/AIDS, who share an apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. A Quiet End was one of the first plays to address the AIDS epidemic, receiving productions both in the U.S. and internationally, and is widely considered "groundbreaking" [1] for this reason. It is one of only fifteen plays that directly falls under Wikipedia's classification of HIV/AIDS in theatre, and one of only five to run in a Broadway/off-Broadway production.
Unlike its contemporary, The Normal Heart, A Quiet End makes no mention of the politics that dominated the AIDS epidemic during this time period, particularly the lack of government response and funding in New York City. The script goes so far as to omit the words "HIV" or "AIDS", though the disease is heavily implied throughout.
The play premiered as the inaugural production of the International City Theater in Long Beach, California, and made its international debut four weeks later at the Offstage Theater in London.
A Quiet End has been produced at numerous theaters including the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, the American Repertory Theater (Amsterdam), Theater-off-Park (New York), as well as two revivals in Los Angeles and another in New York, according to playwright Swados.[2]