Two AIDS Plays

Two AIDS Plays, by Harry C. S. Wingfield, includes Goodnight, Dr. Watkins, a three-act play published for the first time, and Gratia Plena (Full of Grace), a ten-minute play previously available only in Kindle format.

Goodnight, Dr. Watkins follows a playwright, Benjamin, and his partner, Butch, from 1989 until 1994. Benjamin is writing a play in response to a TV news special about AIDS. In the news special, someone asked who you would want to say goodbye to if you found out you only had a few months to live. The question prompts Benjamin to write his play. Then, Benjamin and his partner, Butch, find themselves in that situation. In the play Benjamin writes, we see Jeff and Chuck evolve, from student (Jeff) and professor (Chuck) in 1972, to long time close friends in 1994, saying goodbye to each other.
Although Benjamin insists that Jeff and Chuck are fictional, there are strong similarities to a relationship he had with one of his college professors while he was a student at the University of Georgia.

Gratia Plena (Full of Grace) is a ten-minute play about AIDS survival and survivor guilt. The play has one character, Stewart, who sings and talks to himself as he weeds his garden. Stewart is dealing with anger, grief, and guilt from surviving AIDS while his closest friends are dead. He finds solace in talking to his plants, pulling weeds, and singing Ave Maria to himself. Both plays are set in the Southeast United States.