What started as a faint vision for 20-year-old UF theatre junior Andrew Quimby during his freshman year has blossomed into a full-blown theater production that will take stage this Friday.
The Florida Players are presenting the provocatively titled show "Thank God for AIDS" this week at the UF School of Theatre and Dance in the Black Box Theatre. The fully student-produced show will premiere Friday at 7:30 p.m., with more showings Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Quimby, the show’s writer, said the eye-catching title serves not only to evoke curiosity, but it fits with the show’s central themes of intolerance and prejudice.
"I get very mixed reactions to the title, but it definitely gets people wondering," Quimby said.
"‘Thank God for AIDS,’ which is set in the late ’80s in Topeka, Kansas, is about a kid who gets involved with an extremist Christian church and is torn between his family and the charismatic leader of the church."
Although this show deals with heavy topics like religious extremism and discrimination toward the gay community, Quimby said his main intention in writing "Thank God for AIDS" was to entertain.
"This show has both elements of a drama and elements of a comedy," Quimby said. "I don’t expect people to want to change the world after seeing it, I just hope people leave thinking, ‘Two hours well spent.’"
Twenty-one-year-old UF theatre junior Nick Chinaris worked closely with Quimby to direct the show. He said the story immediately stood out to him when Quimby first proposed it.
"I’ve been in theater for quite some time and this is by far the best student work I have read," Chinaris said. "I’ve been there since almost the beginning of its inception and I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to do with it — (Quimby) birthed the child and I raised it."
Chinaris said he hopes "Thank God for AIDS" will call attention to prejudice that is still present in society.
Although the story isn’t allegorical, it is based on some actual groups that hold this sentiment of intolerance, he said.
"Whenever I go into a show, a sign of accomplishment for me is if people are still thinking about it three days later," Chinaris said. "With this show, I want to impart with the audience a real look on how easily fear-mongering towards any group of people that differ from oneself can infect an otherwise reasonable person."
Florida Players is a UF student-run theater company that allows students of all majors to "explore the world of theatre and showcase their works in doing so," according to the company’s website.
"Thank God for AIDS" is Florida Players’ last show of the Fall season and Quimby, who is the president of the company, hopes to close out the year with a bang.
"I want this show to make you either laugh, cry or think, but most of all, I just want everyone to have a good time," Quimby said.
Stephanie Watson, 19, and Matthew Henao, 20, make protest signs that will be used for props in "Thank God for AIDS." The play premieres Friday.
