AIDS radio plays
It's been a few years now since the Grim Reaper appeared on our TV screens, bowling an unsuspecting group of heterosexual couples and little children into HIV oblivion. Since then, attempts to educate the public about AIDS have become more sophisticated — and accurate — than our government's first attempt.
Radio 4ZZZ FM and 14 other public radio stations plan to broadcast a series of radio plays dealing with the human face of AIDS over the next three months. Tune in and you will find out how a boardroom of executives plan an immune system takeover, in Jo Miller's Aids is Not a Board Game, or hear why a former gay-basher is now lying in the arms of his new lover, Bob, in Javant Biarujia's Afternoon of a Fawn Cardigan.
These are just two of the plays produced by 4ZZZ with a grant from the Department of Health, Housing and Community Services under the Commonwealth AIDS Prevention and Education program.
While the principal aim of the project is to inform audiences about the transmission and prevention of the AIDS virus, the plays go much further, teasing out attitudes toward discrimination, homosexuality, and sexual responsibility.
Playwright Bernie Matthews looks at life inside Australian prisons, where condoms and clean syringes are as rare as justice, in This Aids Thing, while Patricia Austin and Christine Mearing tell the story of one man coming to terms with his love for an HIV-infected woman in Positive Commitment.
The AIDS Radio Plays Project arose after 4ZZZ launched a national scriptwriting competition for plays containing positive and educational messages about HIV and AIDS. Almost 200 entries were received and prizes totalling $10,000 were awarded to the 10 winning writers.
The plays are to be published as a book to be distributed to prisons and community groups.