David Drake began writing The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me in 1990. Although he did not know it then, the series of monologues he developed for numerous AIDS and gay-rights benefits in the early 1990s would become one of the most frequently played one-person shows in history and the winner of The Village Voice Obie award in 1992. The play began off-Broadway and continued to play consecutively for over two years. The play would become a critically acclaimed film in 2000 staring Drake in the title, and only, role.
Now, after 20 years, the show is to be played again—but now in Chicago and with a new set of parameters informing the acting and the writing of the show itself. "So many issues originally informed the show," Drake told Windy City Times. "There was the AIDS epidemic; the actual work of Larry Kramer, namely his play, The Normal Heart; but, ultimately, homophobia and what I saw happening to an entire class of men and women was the greatest influence."
Drake admitted, "I was an actor and I could sell T-shirts. I decided to respond to the crisis by writing something and acting in it. My gifts were never political or medical." After more than six months in pre-development, Drake finally read the piece to a friend and The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me was born.
"There is an anti-bullying message as well," said Drake. "We were tired of being gay-bashed and this was my opportunity to bash back. I was actually a victim of an attack. A group of us were just walking down the street—in the middle of New York City's gay neighborhood—when we were beaten. I felt embarrassed and humiliated. Despite the fact that there were literally hundreds of us around, the homophobes felt entitled to hate outwardly."
Drake never intended the show to win any awards. "It was never my intention for the show to be popular or award winning or celebrated by anybody. I just had a need to write this show from a very deep-seated spiritual root. I felt compelled. Now I am both humbled and awed at what this show has come to mean for so many gay men. It is both humbling in its magnitude but I do feel some pride in sharing my story and the story of those gay men from New York in the early 90s."
Sometimes it may seem that that the power and the energy of those early days seemed to lull for quite some time. Few organizations since ACT-UP have harnessed that kind of community spirit. Drake believed that, "this was a necessary lull. We got tired. We fought from 1995 through 2005 to heal a tumultuous wound in our community. The 1970s was our coming out party. Then the 1980s happened and all we could think was 'Holy shit.' Then we took the better part of the 1990s to take back some control." Drake hoped that the modern production of his play might also heal other schisms in the gay community. "I would like to see the young generation and the older generation get on the same page. This is a societal problem and it would be wonderful to think that this play could be a part of the process to bridge that divide. When younger men play this role, they are 'walking the walk and talking the talk' and learning what it was to be a part of that history. They are becoming 'the archetype of the collective unconscious', the everyman — the hero."
Chad Ryan hopes to become that everyman in his adaptation of Drake's role. "I think I'm an old soul. While I was not directly connected to the center of the AIDS crisis, I am a part of its history. I still had that fear of AIDS," said Ryan. "I remember going to see The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me in 1993. I told my parents I was off to Iowa City but instead, just a freshman in high school, I went to New York instead. What I remember about that original production is that it was very loud. At one point, when the actor is in nothing but a jock strap I felt disgusted. My gosh, I thought that I was going to get AIDS merely by participating in the gay lifestyle. Some people still actually think that," said Ryan.
The 20th-anniversary production is not just a watermark for the play, but a personal note of triumph for its actor. Ryan worked hard for private donations and through Indiegogo to raise the $5,500 needed just to produce the show for two weeks. "I knew after I saw the film production for The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me that I had to do this play. I have a thing for men who are unapologetically themselves, out and unafraid to tell others their story. When I contacted David [Drake] he was delighted that I wanted to do the show and actually wrote me a new ending."
That new ending, which uses the new position of AIDS in our modern world and the new sense of equality and options for the gay community, was indeed written specifically for Ryan and his interpretation of this iconic gay play. Ryan hoped to "make the play more conversational. Drake originally wrote the play as more a performance piece but I wanted to make it something less beat. I wanted to make sure that today's audience didn't get lost and that this play could help them find something inherent in themselves." Drake said, "I wrote this play for the gays. But now straights are gayer than we are. There are no more secret codes. Everyone is invited to the party."
The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me will be playing June 20-July 1 at the Luna Central Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St. See www.brownpapertickets.com or call 800-838-3006.
