From “The Memoirs, Volume Two” –

            About that time Dino was working on writing and starring in a piece of sort of theater/dance that he was calling “Interpret My Silence” a long one-act about a guy with AIDS.  We all thought it was pretty ballsy of him and I encouraged him a lot.

            Dino’s dance company were all involved in the project and Dino asked Sergio to help with a little direction and all the Frente would help, too.  Dino decided to open it on December first, World AIDS Day, and we thought it was a good idea.

            Sergio arranged to borrow the nice little theater, Sala Juárez, at the fine arts college, which we had used before for “Agua Clara” and a couple other pieces, and I did the sets.

            The story concerned a guy, living in a real dump of a place, who’s depressed and hanging out and wearing a T-shirt and boxers.

Then he gets a visit from this real nelly queen whom he had met only once before at the single session of a self-help group he had attended, for people with HIV.  Well, the nelly guy liked Dino but Dino really didn’t like him or want to see him or talk about any of that, but the nelly guy just keeps hanging around and talking.  They talk about medicine and Dino says yeah, he got some, from COESIDA, he says, but he doesn’t want to take it and he’s just going to die anyway.  And so they talk.  When the guy leaves he says he’d really like to visit again and can he come back?

            “Yeah, I guess so,” says Dino and the guys goes out all happy.

            Dino slowly walks over to his little bureau and holds up his medicine.  The lights fade to black.

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            Segio did a great job directing, as usual, and we all worked hard on the piece, which opened on World AIDS Day, December first.

            It was an effective piece of theater and Dino did a great job.  Russell took a great picture of Dino in his boxers for the poster and we got him quite a bit of coverage in the local press.

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   ...NEXT:  "LAS INTREPIDAS VS. SIDA"