“Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, my only understanding of HIV was what I saw on TV. As a young person, I thought that’d never be me,” a young person once said before getting that diagnosis.
Last Tues., Nov. 11, students gathered in the Communication Department Studio, Garey 209, to witness “Remembering & Renewing stories about working in the field of HIV,” the latest production created by Heidi Rose, Ph.D., from the Communication Department. As its name implies, this production shares the voices of HIV providers, clients and community advocates. Undergraduate and graduate students came together to put on a mesmerizing show that moved audiences with its messaging.
According to Rose, this show came about when Christie Lyn Constanza, a former student and now good friend of hers, asked if Rose would be interested in developing a performance for an upcoming conference being held by The Association for Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC). The conference is held in various cities, with Philadelphia being the latest location.
Lyn and a fellow nurse practitioner connected Rose to practitioners she could interview to get their stories about treating HIV clients. She then conducted interviews over Zoom with those practitioners from mid-August to early September. The students helped her with transcribing, analyzing and developing the script.
“As my students and I began transcribing interviews and putting the script together, I was surprised that the students knew little of the history of HIV/AIDS and was surprised that HIV doesn’t play much of a part in nursing or medical school education,” Rose shared about the production process for the show. The team behind the performance first demonstrated their skills at the ANAC conference. Rose is proud of how the team brought the stories of those interviewed to so many students on campus, especially nursing and biology students.
Rose and the students in her Performance Ethnography class worked together to identify themes of stigma, empathy, and hope when they were creating the script. The students ran their lines on Tuesdays and Thursdays during that class period and held additional practice sessions outside of class on Tuesday and Sunday evenings. Each student used verbatim theatre to learn the mannerisms and voice of an interviewee so that they could portray their stories respectively with as much accuracy as possible.
“It was definitely a challenge to get the whole ensemble together, because some of them were grad students who had other obligations, but we all pulled our weight, and the final product was an amazing performance that left a lasting impact on all of us,” Paige Hammer, a senior Communications major, described about the production process.
“Performing “Remembering and Renewing: A Celebration of Life” at the ANAC conference and the BlackBox Theater was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had during my time at Villanova,” Hammer expressed. “I was so proud to be a part of something that resonated with so many people.”
The performance pulled no punches when describing the extent to which HIV clients and providers have suffered. The “On Stigma” segment, for example, showcased the various stigma that HIV clients have been subjected to—HIV is a sign of sexual promiscuity; HIV is transmitted through casual contact; HIV only affects people of specific identities. Members of the LGBTQ+ community have been the victims of slurs and discrimination due to this kind of stigma, especially since being a queer person was harmfully stereotyped as a sign of promiscuity for centuries.
Stigma persists even to this day, despite research combating it and the rise of effective medication. With recent government cuts to research and healthcare, thousands of people across the Earth will be put through agonizing pain as a result. With that in mind, the team was determined to put on a show that would educate Villanovans on the tribulations falling upon an uncountable number of people in the worldwide community.
Zoe Garrett, one of the performers and a part of Class of 2026, shared how being able to embody the interviewees was a unique way of helping her understand their perspectives as providers. She describes achieving a greater understanding and appreciation for the medical field she did not have before.
“Even if students did not know much about the disease or what it is like to work in this medical field—as I did not before preparing for this performance—I hope students appreciated the crucial roles that empathy, kindness and support played for the individuals we interviewed,” Garett said, hoping that students will strive to embody these qualities when interacting with the world.
Most of Rose’s performances create centers on building social awareness and advocating for change. For further information about Rose’s upcoming shows, students can follow @villanovaperformancestudies on Instagram or contact Rose at [email protected].
