Ben Daniels will play the role of Ned Weeks, and Dominic Cooke directs Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, at the Olivier Theatre, in a co-production with Fictionhouse. Kramer’s largely autobiographical and powerful play about the rise of AIDS in 1980 New York has not been performed in London professionally since it received its European premiere in 1986.
Set in New York during the early 1980s, The Normal Heart explores the impact that the AIDS crisis had on the gay community. Activist and writer Ned Weeks channels his anger at the current systems in place as he attempts to unite the gay community to discuss their rights to survive.
The Normal Heart was first performed in the capital in 1986 at the Royal Court Theatre before making the transfer to the Noel Coward Theatre.