First Friday: I, Of Course, Was Livid—Reading & Conversation

Join Poster House for I, Of Course, Was Livid, a work of documentary theater based on a 1992 federal hearing transcript featuring testimony by  women living with HIV as they demanded that the CDC revise its then-exclusionary definition of AIDS.

Each performance of I, Of Course, Was Livid features a Voice of the Present, building an ever-growing archive of first-person narratives about life with HIV across the 20th and 21st centuries.

The transcript on which the show is based is archived in the Judy Sisneros ACT UP/Los Angeles Records at the ONE Archives. I, Of Course, Was Livid was co-created by Theodore (Ted) Kerr and Elizabeth Koke for the collective What Would an HIV Doula Do?

Please note that this performance contains frank discussion of HIV/AIDS, illness, and death and is recommended for ages 16 and up.

Joanie Drago (cast) is a writer, performer, and teacher based in Brooklyn.

Eleanor Kipping (she/they, cast) is a Brooklyn-based artist, educator, and arts administrator originally from Maine. Through the examination and deconstruction of historical and contemporary narratives, she explores the public, private, and civic negotiations of race and gender, as well as the effect and practice of violence and surveillance.

Elizabeth Koke (playwright) is a writer, organizer, and performer from New York City. She is Vice President of Brand Strategy for Housing Works.

Theodore (Ted) Kerr (playwright) is a writer and organizer. He is the co-author of We Are Having This Conversation Now: The Cultural Times of AIDS (Duke University Press, 2022).

Rula A. Muñoz (cast) is a multi-hyphenate theater artist who works as a director, producer, performer, and writer. She is a PEN America DREAMing Out Loud Playwriting alumna, a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons steering committee, and a Fornés Institute member.

Valerie Reyes-Jimenez (cast) is a City Organizer with Housing Works. She is a great-grandmother, an activist, and a long-term survivor.

What Would an HIV Doula Do? is a community of people joined in response to the ongoing AIDS Crisis. We understand a doula as someone who holds space during times of transition. We understand HIV as a series of transitions that begins long before being tested, continues after treatment and beyond. We know that since no one gets HIV alone, no one should have to deal with HIV alone. We doula ourselves, each other, institutions and culture. Foundational to our process is asking questions.

Accessibility Note: Masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact events@posterhouse.org.