Revisiting HIV/AIDS Theatre: Black and Queer Spatio-Temporalities in Cheryl L. West’s Before It Hits Home

Abstract

This article recuperates Cheryl L. West’s domestic drama Before It Hits Home (1991) as a milestone in HIV/AIDS drama. Home is the first full-length play to examine the destructive impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the African American community and one of the first HIV/AIDS plays written by an African American woman. Before It Hits Home has not received the scholarly recognition it deserves; this article aims to rectify that neglect with the help of Black studies and queer theory. In particular, the article undertakes an in-depth examination of the play’s overlooked spatio-temporal possibilities, demonstrating that West’s use of juxtapositions and overlaps offers an alternative to white and heteronormative spatio-temporalities. I argue that West’s liberating reconstruction of time and space not only queers white spectatorship but also resists a predominantly white HIV/AIDS canon. Building on Frantz Fanon’s notion of disalienation, I further conclude that West’s theatre destigmatizes the seropositive diagnosis, allowing for emancipatory possibilities.