Positive Life NSW

Have we forgotten the real deal and been lulled into believing that being positive is no big deal? Robert Colman writes about Positive Act - a series of ten scriptwriting workshops currently run by Positive Life.

The frustration of an older gay man trying to communicate with a 21st century gay youth; the stigma faced by an HIV positive woman who chooses to have two healthy, negative, children; a young man’s dilemma about what meds to take and when to start; making ends meet on the pension; searching for love; lust, lies and confusion on a 4am crystal meth sex hook up; courage, anger, depression, isolation, discovery, resilience and joy. These are some of the stories and themes coming out of the Positive Act workshop.

The participants (five gay men and one heterosexual woman) were asked to respond to the workshop brief: Living with HIV in Sydney in 2009. A common thread emerges - ‘have we been lulled into believing that living with HIV is no longer a big deal?’

There is plenty of information written on HIV, for example, resources promoting safe sex practices, testing for HIV, counselling and other health and social issues. It is all positively framed and designed to de-stigmatise the lives of people with HIV and to promote positive choices and healthy life styles. However, twenty- five years after the epidemic first surfaced, very few people write about the reality of living with HIV in 2009. The trauma experienced by people in the early days - sickness, uncertainties, painful deaths and huge loss – has passed, but still haunts us. The experiences of living HIV found a cultural voice, which was reflected in writing, visual arts and movies.

The Positive Act workshop is inspired by the absence of current HIV cultural expression. Unlike promotional and educational material, art has the luxury to be no holds barred. The writers in the project have the freedom to express whatever their experience is, the good and the ‘bad’.

The initial aim of the workshop is to develop six short scripts for a professional performance (a rehearsed reading) as part of World AIDS Day. The participants learn the craft of script writing and produce work that is either autobiographical or fictional. It also gives them the opportunity to speak to a new audience.

Whatever the outcome, I believe the project is valuable in giving voices to people living with HIV. I hope the writing will speak for, and to others.