It's easier to live in a get-over-it world. So you struggled through the Great Depression? That must have been tough, now get over it. Fought in World War II? Sounds like hell, now get over it. On the front lines as AIDS was slicing through a generation? Rough stuff, now get over it. It's both selfish and a necessary coping mechanism, for while we can muster intellectual empathy, to emotionally connect with all that our elders have been through would render us a quivering bowl of jelly.
In Tim Pinckney's "Still at Risk," now in its world premiere at New Conservatory Theatre Center, the central character is angry at those younger than himself for not being able to do the impossible: experience the world as he did. He hears gratitude expressed for his full-out commitment to his cause as platitudinous as a game show host's obligatory "thank you for your service" whenever a contestant's introduction includes mention of a stint in the armed services.
Kevin had been an actor early in his career when friends and colleagues began falling to AIDS, and that career now seemed a trivial pursuit. He threw himself into a life as an activist, agitator, and volunteer at an organization based on Gay Men's Health Crisis. The year is now 2005, and Kevin is wafting through life as a cater-waiter when he hears that his late former lover, Eric, will be overlooked at a gala honoring the founders of the organization. Kevin is a rebel who has regained a cause, but the sturm-und-drang tactics that fueled him as an early AIDS activist are out of sync with both his friends and perceived enemies.
There are recurring eruptions of high-volume hectoring as Kevin remounts his high horse, and while they illustrate a release of bottled-up passions, the playwright also seems to be sharing the soapbox as the sacrifices of yesterday seem forgotten even as we enjoy their benefits today. But these instructional harangues do not set the tone of the overall play, which is often filled with the dynamics of relationships that can stray nearly to the breaking point. Yet amid all this tension, Pinckney provides steady servings of humor that earn their laughs through honest connections to the situations and the characters.
Director Dennis Lickteig has sharply pulled together the multi-scene play of swiftly switching emotions, and designer Devin Kasper has provided a stylish unit set that is an effective backdrop for the numerous locales, and works well with Maxx Kurzunski's evolving lighting design.
The cast is in confident agreement with the journey that the playwright and director have taken them on. Scott Cox, as the crusading Kevin, creates an engrossing ball of unstable energy. As a cohort from the old days, Desiree Rogers helps bring Kevin down to earth with calm wisdom and expertly delivered zingers. Kevin's best friend is a still-studly actor with a fading career, and William Giammona gives a solid account of the character's own shifting fortunes as his interest in helping the flailing Kevin wanes.
Conrad Frank smoothly essays a devil-wears-Prada character (but without the heels) as the superciliously slick head of the multi-million-dollar organization that Kevin and his late lover helped establish. As a trust-fund baby with an uncomfortable relationship with Kevin, Matt Weimar effectively oozes Southern honey. Weimar plays Eric's last lover, the man for whom he left Kevin, and the reasons for the switch seem an oddly narrow fixation on anal intercourse. Basically, it's you won't fuck me anymore even with a condom, so goodbye.
But that is but a passing moment in this well-written play that is a strong character study and secondarily a teaching tool. But while facts can be learned, the emotions that come from first-hand experiences can be shared but never really passed on.
"Still at Risk" will run through Feb. 25 at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Tickets are $20-$45. Call (415) 861-8972.
Scott Cox, right, plays an activist from the early days of AIDS now out of sync with friends and colleagues played by William Giammona, Desiree Rogers, J. Conrad Frank, and Matt Weimer, in "Still at Risk" at NCTC. Photo: Lois Tema