The thing that fascinates me most about this play and the picture it paints of the AIDS crisis, particularly in NYC, is the nature of identity politics during a time of immense crisis. In a lot of ways, things have not changed at all: not in the minds and hearts of politicians, nor in the unity of the queer community. The way every scene inevitably devolves into a question of what it means to be gay: is it a sexual identity, or a political one? Is it fair to try and suppress an ongoing sexual revolution to save a generation? Even when information regarding the cause and spread of the disease is virtually nonexistent? 

Kramer also raises some interesting points about the nature of epidemics which are perhaps even more topical now, for obvious reasons. Each character is precisely crafted so these conversations occur naturally. There is no tip-toeing, no hinting, no subtext. Instead, there are statistics. There are fingers pointed directly at those whose hands bear the blood of the dead and dying. It is horrific. It is upsetting. But it was, and is, absolutely essential.