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The Normal Heart

New York, NY

Actor performs in stage production of Normal Heart.

Theater

Written before the epidemic had a name, The Normal Heart, written by Larry Kramer, is a play about the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. Together with the directors George C. Wolfe and Joel Grey, Rockwell Group conceived the set as a memorial to the heroes who found their voices and fought the disease. The set consisted of 3 large white walls that contained 6,310 individually cut out letters that came together to form sentences recounting the early events of the AIDS crisis.

Project Category
Theater
Select Awards
Henry Hewes Design Award: Best Scenic Design
Normal Heart set design by David Rockwell.

Lights and projections were used on the walls to hide and reveal the textured surface. As the play progressed, projections naming those lost to the epidemic multiplied, helping the audience visualize the spread of the disease.

Detail of man immersed in text projection. Normal Heart set design by David Rockwell.
Actors perform in stage production of Normal Heart.
Actors perform in Normal Heart production.
Normal Heart set design by David Rockwell.
Actors perform in Normal Heart production.
Normal Heart set model.