BEFORE WE ARE HISTORY

October 23–November 8, 2026
Open Space Arts • 1411 W. Wilson Avenue, Chicago

Forty years after the height of the AIDS crisis, BEFORE WE ARE HISTORY returns to the plays and voices that documented a community confronting illness, loss, anger, prejudice—and the urgent need to be remembered.

Presented by Open Space Arts, this three-week series brings together landmark dramatic works, rarely performed pieces, staged readings, conversations, and special events examining how artists responded to the AIDS epidemic from the 1980s to today.

These works are more than historical documents. They are personal, immediate, funny, intimate, defiant, and deeply human. Together, they remind us how theater gave people a way to speak when much of the world refused to listen.

By Jeff Hagedorn

A deeply personal solo work about love, survival, memory, and the lasting effects of the AIDS crisis.

Friday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 25 at 3 p.m.

By Robin Swados

First produced during the earliest years of the AIDS epidemic, A QUIET END follows a group of friends struggling to care for one another while confronting illness, fear, and a society that would prefer not to see them.

 Presented as a special staged reading marking the 40th anniversary of the play’s original production, A QUIET END is receiving its Chicago premiere. Admission is pay-what-you-can. 

Monday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m.

By Robert Chesley

Written in 1986, JERKER is one of the defining theatrical works to emerge from the AIDS crisis.

Two men develop an intimate relationship through a series of late-night telephone calls. What begins as anonymous fantasy gradually becomes something much more profound—a connection shaped by desire, tenderness, imagination, and the rapidly changing world around them.

Open Space Arts presents JERKER in recognition of the play’s 40th anniversary.

Thursday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 1 at 3 p.m.

Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 8 at 3 p.m.

JERKER contains explicit sexual language and mature subject matter.

Selected Sunday performances will be followed by conversations with artists, activists, historians, and community organizations. These discussions will consider the legacy of the AIDS crisis, the people and organizations that responded, and the work that remains to be done.

Additional participants and conversation topics will be announced.

The first generation of plays about AIDS was written in an atmosphere of fear, silence, political indifference, and devastating personal loss. Playwrights documented what was happening while it was happening, ensuring that the people at the center of the crisis would not disappear without leaving their stories behind.

Four decades later, many of these works are seldom produced. Some are in danger of being forgotten altogether.

BEFORE WE ARE HISTORY brings these plays back into the room—where audiences can encounter them not simply as artifacts of another era, but as living works of theater with something urgent to say about love, community, survival, and responsibility.

The project also honors those we lost, those who cared for them, those who fought for change, and those who continue to live with HIV today.

Open Space Arts
1411 W. Wilson Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60640

Open Space Arts is an intimate storefront theater located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

General admission and discounted senior and student tickets will be available for individual performances. Capacity is limited, and advance reservations are strongly recommended.