Status

Status is a confronting and provocative piece of theatre that presents real life stories exploring the social stigma faced by people living with HIV. The script has been drawn from interviews with HIV positive men and women as well as their friends, family and carers including medical professionals.

The 60 minute piece is performed by four actors – Kath Gordon, Matt Hickey, Will Conyers and Brigid Gallacher – each of whom play a range of different roles, illuminating the stories of a wide variety of people whose lives have been altered by HIV diagnosis.

Some of their stories are heart rending, some are harrowing, some will enrage and some will make you laugh despite yourself – all are extremely moving. All the performers were strong, with Kath Gordon a particular standout during her monologue recounting the experience of a positive woman sent to a family planning clinic for IUV treatment only to be rejected by the health professional assigned to her when her status became known.

It was extremely disturbing to hear some of the prejudices and irrational fears that disclosure of HIV positive status can give rise to, especially given the fact that it is 30 years since the virus was identified. Unfortunately, many of the stories recounted in Status date not from the 1980s but the much more recent past.

Status makes the point that stigmatisation is used routinely in society to control and differentiate groups of people and may well be something that will always be with us. Therefore, one of the aims of this piece is to call it out for what it is – awareness can bring empowerment. In this, Status succeeds – thanks to the dedication of its cast and production team, who are to be congratulated for their thoroughly compassionate take on this difficult subject.

Alex Paige