ST. PETERSBURG - Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project commemorates World AIDS Day by presenting Keith Haring: Radiant Child, Saturday, Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m., at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg.
This one night only performance will benefit Metropolitan Charities of Pinellas, HIV/AIDS programs.
Keith Haring: Radiant Child, is a play written by actor/writer/teacher Jeff Norton, directed by Kerry Glamsch, and starring Chris Rutherford as Keith Haring. This amazing solo acting piece will inform and in some cases, introduce audiences to the artist's creative process and work.
The play examines how the artist and his work emerged from the New York City graffiti street culture of the 1980s and gaining notoriety and tremendous commercial success as he began to reflect on more socio-political themes, such as Apartheid, AIDS, and the crack cocaine epidemic. Haring became friends with such luminaries as Madonna, Jean Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol.
In 1988, Haring was diagnosed with AIDS and established the Keith Haring Foundation, its mandate being to provide funding to AIDS organizations and children's programs. Haring died Feb. 16, 1990 of AIDS-related complications.
Haring said, “The greatest lesson that I’ve ever learned in my life was to realize that I can have an effect, that I can change things that maybe need to be changed.”
This one night only performance will benefit HIV/AIDS programs at Metropolitan Charities of Pinellas. Admission is $10.
For more information, visit www.freefalltheatre.com or call 727-498-5205. Doors open at 7 p.m., curtain time is 7:30 p.m.
freeFall Theatre is located at 6099 Central Ave. St. Petersburg.
Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness, provide assistance, and perpetuate a life of dignity for those affected and infected by HIV and AIDS. To learn more about The Suncoast AIDS Theatre Project contact Garry Allan Breul, artistic director at 941-758-6399.