Eric and Toby are in their mid-thirties, they are successful in their jobs and have been a couple for several years. Their relationship has never been in major trouble, but this changes when they meet Adam, who wants to act in Toby’s latest play. Adam is young, talented and apparently a perfect match for the role, but he and Toby become dangerously close during rehearsals. Meanwhile, what Eric learns from the much older Walter causes him to question his lifelong beliefs. Walter tells him about the great HIV-pandemic of the 1980s and 90s, about how many of his friends died, about the struggle against social ostracism and the unpredictable disease. Eric understands that his secure and comfortable life is no matter of course, but that many courageous people before him have fought for recognition and equality. And he senses that he has to take action so that he, but also Adam, Toby and all the others out there, will have a future.
This play by the US-American author Matthew Lopez is an epos. Over nearly 300 pages, Lopez traces the social crises and achievements of queer people in the Western world over several decades. At the same time, his play also talks about betrayal, friendship, romantic love and our desire to be accepted the way we are. History does not simply happen, it is actively produced. Just like the future, which we cannot predict, but can make possible.