Behind the ‘Line

In 2010 TimeLine’s literary manager, Ben Thiem, encouraged me and my fellow Company Members to read Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart. Embarrassingly, initially I  made the mistake of assuming that it was a dated play. And then I read it, for the first time. Like my colleagues, I was completely knocked out, and not just by its political vibrancy and call to action. Larry Kramer crafted one of the great historical dramas of the 20th ...

Four high school students arrange themselves in front of the class. One of them has taken a black hoodie and put it over her head like a bag. The other two stand, fingers holding the invisible trigger of a gun, held close against their eyes—which squint through an imaginary scope. The fourth girl stands next to them, turning a blind eye, striking a pose of indifference. You know when real people start to care about ...