A well-meaning but dull Official History: Olivier’s Normal Heart reviewed

The Normal Heart is not about Aids. Larry Kramer’s play is set in New York in 1981 at a time when clinicians were struggling to find a link between a handful of rare diseases that struck only gay men and heroin addicts. The term ‘Aids’ wasn’t adopted until late in 1982. And this dampens the wheels of Dominic Cooke’s production. A playgoer is likely to stifle a yawn as the characters on stage try to discover medical facts that have been common knowledge for decades.

There are other problems with Kramer’s ageing script. The story follows an indignant activist, Ned, who has to persuade the city authorities to take the plague seriously. He embarks on a laborious campaign whose numerous battlegrounds the script exhaustively covers. The dialogue is often bloated and flaccid. Too many scenes involve garrulous characters striding around and rabbiting about the latest plot developments. When Kramer wants to change the direction of a scene he throws in a sudden interjection. ‘Guys? It’s late and we haven’t chosen a president yet.’ A character walks in and announces how much cash he made at a charity gala last week, and he then compares this tally with the sums received at previous similar events. It’s less a drama and more an Official History commissioned by a dull but well-meaning grandee. Vicki Mortimer’s design is effective and she sets the action beneath a circle of blinding light. High overhead, a flame burns constantly. It feels like an act of remembrance as well as a history lesson.

Eventually, deep into the final act, Ned’s colleagues notice something about him that the audience will have spotted earlier. Ned is an idiot. He won’t shut up. He keeps sabotaging his own efforts with tantrums and outbursts that alienate the people he needs to win over.