About the Play:

Raft of the Medusa is full-length drama by Joe Pintauro. A taut, deeply powerful drama that drives home the reality of AIDS as a disease that we all must face. The play is named after the 19th-century painting that hangs in the Louvre by Théodore Géricault, which depicts the survivors of an 1816 shipwreck. Mutiny, starvation, murder and cannibalism decreased the 150 people to 15 by the time the raft was found. It's a terrific metaphor for the subject of Joe Pintauro's play – a group therapy session for people with HIV and AIDS.

Raft of the Medusa takes place 10 years into the AIDS epidemic, centering on a weekly support group session of people living with AIDS, where the members discover the disease they share can divide as effectively as it conquers. The members of the group are a diverse lot, including homosexuals, heterosexuals and bisexuals, conservatives and liberals, black, white and Hispanic, rich and poor. Some of them are philosophical, some are angry, and some resigned. As the evening's discussion progresses they discover that one member, Larry, a reporter, does not have AIDS, but is tape recording the sessions for an article. They attack him verbally and physically until Nairobi, a homeless woman in the group, stabs Larry with a dirty syringe, infecting him with the virus. The others are stunned and the reporter is hysterical, until Nairobi reveals that the needle was a clean one and that she would not give the disease to her worst enemy. The other members of the group then react with a kind of awe, asking the reporter what it feels like to experience the miracle of a "cure." The quick trauma brings them together, reaching for their own comfort while they search for unattainable answers.

Raft of the Medusa premiered in 1990 at Home for Contemporary Theatre and Art in New York City before being presented to considerable acclaim at Greenwich Village's Minetta Lane Theatre in 1991. Since then the play had regional premieres at professional theatres in many other cities including Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Montreal. The English premiere by the London Gay Theatre Company at The Gate in London in 1995.

Cast: 3 female, 10 male

What people say:

"Raft of the Medusa … is as disturbing as it is moving. Raft of the Medusa is an absorbing work that careens from fierce anger to unabashed sentimentality. The play ultimately strips the alienated characters of their defenses, revealing the bond that is both their curse and their salvation." — Variety

"Joe Pintauro's Raft of the Medusa…grabs, holds, and harrows us with the chilling facts and cold statistics of mortality in the Age of AIDS. The play unquestionably hits home and hits hard." — New York Post

"Nothing less than our mortality is on the line. There are no outs. Even if a play is make believe, the death sentence is palpably real. That's certainly the case with Raft of the Medusa, the new drama by Joe Pintauro...." — The New York Times

About the Playwright:

Joe Pintauro (1930-2018) was an award-winning American playwright and and former priest. He graduated from Fordham University in New York City with an M.A. in American Literature before studying Theology for four years at Niagara University. He is the acclaimed author of two novels, several volumes of poetry, and a plethora of plays. He is best known for works such as Raft of the Medusa, Cacciatore, and Men's Lives.