The Moonshot Tape & A Poster of the Cosmos

Her remarks are in answer to such questions as where she gets the ideas for her stories; whether her youth in Mountain Grove influenced her work; and why she decided to leave home

At first obliging and matter-of-fact, Diane gradually begins to reveal more than her questioner might have bargained for - a childhood marred by the loss of her father and her mother's coldness; the promiscuity which she was driven to in search of the love and concern which were denied her at home; and, most devastating of all, the molestation by her stepfather which shaped her character indelibly - and led to the harrowing event which she describes at the end of her recital

To the world at large Diane is someone who has shaken off the dust of Mountain Grove and has gone on to bigger and better things. To herself, however, it is painfully clear that what she is what her earlier life ordained - because no one ever really leaves the place from which they came

Evocative and deeply revealing, this fascinating monodrama explores the "personal history" of a woman writer who makes it disturbingly evident that we are all the product not only of our own drives and desires, but also of the experiences which others impose on us - often against our wishes - and which sometimes burrow deep into our consciousness

A Poster of the Cosmos ~ The place is a Manhattan police station, where a young man, Tom, is being interrogated after having created a disturbance at the hospital where his friend and lover has just died from AIDS

Although only Tom speaks, it is clear that the flood of memories which bursts forth is triggered by the uncomprehending questions of the policemen who now watch him in stony silence. At first he is defensive and impatient with his questioners' inability to understand his behavior, but gradually, as he recalls his time with his lost friend, the depth of their feeling and commitment for each other emerges

Recalling a host of "little" details, Tom creates a telling portrait of two human beings who must come to understand themselves as individuals before they can comprehend their relationship to each other - much less their position relevant to society at large

Sometimes poignant, sometimes harrowing, Tom's deeply felt words also make it clear that the guilt and remorse which he feels should, in truth, be shared by all who do not try to understand - or pledge themselves to overcome - this terrible pestilence which has brought so much loss and suffering to our times

An eloquent and uncompromising evocation of the terrible plague which is the AIDS crisis, told through the words of an aggrieved man who has lost his treasured friend and lover to the disease. Deeply affecting, the play has been presented extensively in connection with events raising funds to fight this dreadful scourge