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Objective: Ned wants to care for Felix

Super Objective: Find love

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Given Circumstances:
Play begins in 1981
Takes place in NYC
1981 was the most violent year in NYC
AIDS Epidemic
This was a time that was extremely horrifying because people were dying from an
an unknown disease and no one knew how to treat it.
Ned is gay and is very open about it.
While Im not the most open about my sexuality, I know what it feels like to embrace
something different than the social norm. I know what its like to simply be different.
Has a brother, Ben
Owns a large amount of books
This is a fact about Ned that is presented in an unusual way. Ned likes to collect books
that are going out of print so that he can read them some day.
Ned is Jewish
Has gone to corrective therapy
To me, this is like being berated about being different and being forced to change
something about myself in order to make others happy, which is something I have done
before but has made me feel really bad about myself so I switch back to what makes me

happy.
9. Ned is a nervous talker
I am the human embodiment of the word nervous so I completely understand this
attribute.
10. Has had a sexual interaction with Felix before, but forgot about it.
Nothing is as awkward as accidentally introducing yourself to someone that youve
already met, which is something I have done before so I completely understand this `
moment in the play.
11. Real name is Alexander
Ned changes his name from Alexander to Ned because of a book he read.
12. Stonewall
Stonewall was mentioned, which was a series of riots that led to the gay liberation
movement and opened the door to the LGBT community and gave them an opportunity
to fight for their rights.
13. Black people and lesbians were not as present during the AIDS movement
Which might mean that none of the cast is really black.
14. Fire Island was a thing
15. Bruce is vice president of Citibank
16. Felix has his own key to Neds apartment halfway through the play
At this point in the play, Felix and Ned have already taken their relationship to the next
level and Felix has moved in.
17. Ben also went to therapy

18. Felix used to work at the Washington Post


19. Board of Directors of the activists group is falling apart
A lot of Neds hard work is going unnoticed.
20. Ned is hotheaded.
Ned often speaks without thinking, which is the a lot of the basis of his outburst during
the
scene that Im doing. I relate to this really well because I fully understand getting to that
place where I say something extremely stupid without thinking.
21. A time in which people were very afraid to come out
Public ridicule was a large issue and coming out as gay had a horrendous stigma
attached it.
22. Neds mother was a dedicated, full-time, social worker
Ned picked up a lot of his personality traits from his mother, which he seems to talk
highly
of once, and never again.
23. Felix was married to a woman and had a child with her.
This was a pretty big deal to Ned because it was a pretty big secret that Felix was
hiding.
24. Ned is afraid of being weak
I know for me that forcing myself to be strong will actually just make me look even
weaker, which I feel is exactly what Ned goes through during this play.
25. Felix has AIDS
This is both Ned and Felixs greatest fears and is the reason why Ned loses his stability
as the play progresses.
26. Emma is german
27. Bruce is very in the closet
28. Ned has never been in a committed relationship until Felix came along.
Its extremely terrifying to let someone else in emotionally because you dont know if
theyre going to turn and run once they see the mess that is your life. I completely
understand where Ned is coming from with this fear.
29. Emma has polio
30. Ned is afraid of being with Felix, but also afraid of being alone
When Ned realizes that hes beginning to lose Felix, which is the only thing good in his
life, Ned has the thought of
31. Ned kisses Emma
Ned has the tendency to kiss people when hes feeling emotionally unstable.
32. Tylenol scare of 1980
Tylenol was being tampered and was the cause of a series of deaths.
33. Bruce was a green beret
34. AIDS labeled pneumonia
35. It is not illegal to discriminate against homosexuals pg 61
36. Ned has tried to get the mayors support for 14 months
37. AIDS not labeled an epidemic until 1980
38. Yet, people are in denial of that title
Many people deny the seriousness behind AIDS which frustrates Ned greatly.

39. 256 are dead in NYC


40. Cure is still not real yet
41. Scene 11 is four months later
42. No same sex marriages
43. pg 76
44. St. Vincent support
45. Secret fund from mayor
46. Still no way of actually testing for AIDS
Because of the lack of knowledge about AIDS, there was no way to actually see if
anyone
had AIDS until the symptoms began to surface.
47. AIDS causes people to lost control of their bowels and develop memory loss
48. Reagan was afraid to endorse gay people

Scene:
Ned: Help Felix. Bring dinner. Enter apartment. Set down groceries. Turn to close the door and
see Felix is on the floor. Cross over to where Felix is.Why are you sitting on the floor?
Felix: I fell down trying to get from there to here.
Ned: Attempt to help Felix up. Physically attempts to carry Felix. Lets put you to bed.
Felix: Dont touch me!
Ned: Cross behind bench.Understand Felixs ordeal. Ask about Felixs day. Did you go to chemo
today?
Felix Yes. I threw it all up. You dont have to let me stay here with me. This is horrible for you.
Ned: Care for Felix Change the subject to how Ned can help Felix Im hungry. How about you?
Can you eat a little? Please? Cross over to groceries. Ive bought dinner.
Felix: Emma says a cure wont come until the next century. Emma says its years till a vaccine,
which wont do me any good anyway. Emma says the incubation period might be up to three,
ten, twenty years.
Ned: . Ned attempts to show that he is really trying to be there for Felix. Emma says youve got
to eat.
Felix: Whoever thought youd die from having sex?
Ned: Set down groceries. Cross to Felix. Ned reassures Felix that there is hope. Did Emma also
tell you that research at the NIH has finally started. Help Felix onto the bench. That something is
now possible. We have to hope.
Felix: Oh do we?
Ned: Yes, we do.
Felix: And how am I supposed to do that? You activists who think you can always make
everything right - that the world can always be a better place.

Ned: Defending himself. Ned questions why Felix is attacking him when hes only trying to help.
Why are you doing this? Get up. Cross to chair with donuts. Cross back to groceries. Ned cares
for Felix again. Ned changes the topic back to him trying to care for Felix, with a hint of
aggression this time. Why are you eating this shit? You know how important it is to watch your
nutrition. Youre supposed to eat right.
Felix: I have a life expectancy of of ten more minutes. Im going to eat what I want to eat. Ned,
its going to get messier any day now and I dont want to make you see it.
Ned: Reminding Felix that they are in a relationship and theyre supposed to love each other.
Ned reminds Felix of the sacrifices that he has done to show his love for Felix and make sure he
is living comfortably during his illness. Nobody makes me do anything; you should know that
better than anybody else by now. What are you going to do? Sit on the floor for the rest of your
life? We have a bed in the other room. You could listen to those relaxation tapes we bought you
three months ago. You havent use them at all. Do you hear me?
Felix: Yes I hear you.
Ned: Are you ready to get up yet? And eat something?
Felix: No! - Ive had over forty treatments. No! - Ive had three, not four different types of chemo.
No! Ive had interferon, a couple of kinds. Ive had two different experimentals. Emma has spent
more time on me than anybody else. None of it has done a thing. Ive had to go into the hospital
four times - and please God dont make me go back into the hospital until I die. Emma has lost
so many patients they call her Dr. Death. you cannot force the goddamn sun to come out.
Ned: Ned loses his composure finally. Ned finally stops trying to care for Felix. Felix! Cross to
Felix.I am so sick of fighting, and bragging about fighting, and everybodys stupidity, and
blindness, and intransigence, and guilt trips. You cant eat the food? Dont eat the food. Cross
back to groceries. Take your poison. I dont care. You cant get up off the floor - fine, stay there. I
dont care. Fish - fish is good for you; we dont want any of that, do we? No green salad. No
broccoli; we dont want any of that, no, sir. No bread with seven grains. who would ever want

any milk? You might get some calcium in your bones. Cross back to Felix You want to die,
Felix? Die! Sit down next to Felix. Ned needs forgiveness from Felix. Ned realizes that he was
out of line and attempts to fix his blunder with one sentence. Felix, please dont leave me.

One of the major challenges of this scene is making sure that I, as Ned, make sure that I show
that Im fighting for stability and love from my boyfriend, Felix. I need to show

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