Arts & Entertainment
Welcoming the world
Activists, filmmakers prepare for Int’l AIDS Conference with busy lineup of local events
Members of the World AIDS Institute team (l-r): Chad Johnson, Diego Alves, Noel Short, David Miller, Angela Kelly, Kevin Maloney, Dave Purdy and Mariel Selbovitz. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
As Washington gears up to host the International AIDS Conference for the first time in 22 years, local organizations have planned a bounty of free or independent events for those who could not afford the $150-$1,045 registration fee.
Global Village, an international organization that brings together leaders, researchers and performers from all over the world to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS, is hosting several sessions within the conference ranging from video screenings and art exhibitions to networking zones and meeting rooms. Everything the Global Village is hosting is free and open to delegates and locals.
“We are trying to connect science, research and community,” coordinator Joseph Elias says. “It is important that the D.C. community participates to get a grasp of what is happening locally and globally.”
Several of the events will be geared toward youth under the age of 30 dealing with HIV/AIDS.
Emily Carson, youth program coordinator at Global Village, says the focus on youth has been in demand.
“Young people are disproportionally affected by HIV,” she says. “In the conference in 2000, there were only 50 young people, and they said this is a severe problem, no one is speaking for us.”
Among the many attractions in the Global Village area, there will be an interactive story telling booth called, “Generations HIV.” The booth looks like a photo booth, but it records video instead.
The booth was created by Marc Smolowitz and Jörg Fockele, both San Francisco-based filmmakers, as part of their HIV Story Project. The booth has been featured three times in the San Francisco Bay area and has so far collected about 250 clips. The HIV Story Project is a non-profit organization that compiles multi-platform story telling and short films about living with HIV/AIDS.
“The booth is a conversation starter,” Smolowitz says. “It is to connect different generations of people living with HIV. You can ask questions of different generations, answer questions or record your personal story.”
Smolowitz and Fockele are currently trying to start an archive online where all the videos will be posted.
A still from ‘Ours,’ one of the films being screened July 24-25 in the AIDS Film Festival. (Image courtesy the Festival)
Along with the booth, the HIV Story Project team also has a movie screening at the International AIDS Film Festival, which is occurring in conjunction with the conference from July 24-25. The film is titled, “Still Around,” and is a compilation of 15 short films portraying different people living with HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco area. The people were paired with 16 different directors and had direct say in their own films. The films vary, and include stories about how people are thriving with the disease. One subject is a man who copes with his HIV-positive status through a hooking ritual. Another is a couple that marries, has a daughter and faces HIV/AIDS together.
Fockele says the film is an update of what the face of HIV/AIDS looks like in the U.S. and in Europe today.
“In Europe and the U.S. there are mostly historic films about HIV and AIDS,” he says. “What we went out to do is to get a film that is right here, right now.”
The movie is opening the festival on July 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, and a pass for all four films is $25. For more information about the International AIDS Film Festival 2012, visit internationalaidsfilmfestival.org.
The film festival and several other community events are a part of the AIDS2012 Reunion, a resource for conference attendees to see what local events are taking place outside the main conference.
“The one thing we are doing is we are allowing anyone to participate,” managing director David Purdy says. “Low-income people are one group that needs support and to get educated about HIV/AIDS.”
Some of the events in the AIDS2012 Reunion as well as other community events include:
• On July 20-21, the DC Center, National Coalition of LGBT Health, Whitman-Walker Health and Us Helping Us at George Washington University (2029 G St., N.W.) are hosting the Gay Men’s Health Summit. Registration is $85, $65 for students.
• On July 21, Jay Brannan is playing at the U Street Music Hall (1115A U St., N.W.) at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20.
• From July 21-27, the Textile Museum (2320 S St., N.W.) is showing a special display of one panel from the AIDS Quilt. An $8 donation is suggested.
• On July 22, there’s a March on Washington involving several different local organizations from noon to 2 p.m.
• On July 19 and 23, Arena Stage (1101 6th St., S.W.) hosts a benefit performance of its current production, the Larry Kramer-penned AIDS classic “The Normal Heart” at 8 p.m. Tickets are $65.
• On July 24, “Return to Lisner: A Forum on the State of HIV/AIDS,” is taking place at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University (2029 G St., N.W.). Registration is required.
For more events, visit the AIDS2012 Reunion website aids2012reunion.org.
These events are only a fraction of what will be occurring throughout the D.C. Metropolitan area.
Chris Dyer, organizer for the Gay Men’s Health Summit, says by hosting separate events from the conference, organizations can make them more focused on certain groups.
“Gay men’s health issues are unique,” he says. “The main conference deals with a variety of issues, but we are providing a safe place for gay, bisexual or trans men to talk about their specific issues in a safe place.”
Purdy also says that organizations like AIDS2012 Reunion bring the focus back to what is happening locally and connecting people to services they may not be aware of.
“We’re providing an opportunity to participate and win this war against AIDS,” he says.
Bringing the spotlight back to Washington, local filmmakers Art Jones and Pam Bailey are also presenting their documentary “13 Percent,” which is about how the African-American population in Washington and other metropolitan areas has been affected by HIV/AIDS in the past 10 years. The movie will be screening at Bloombars (3222 11th St., N.W.) on July 24 at 7 p.m. RSVP and $10 donation is suggested.
The film is intermixed with interviews from medical professionals, political leaders, religious leaders and those living with the virus. They showcase a variety of people affected by the disease and their stories, one of the most compelling being a young woman named Raven.
Raven was born with HIV and when her mother informed the Catholic school she was attending, Raven began facing daily discrimination from teachers and students. She describes how one teacher put garbage bags around her and would bar her from going on class trips. All of this occurred well after it was known how the virus is spread.
“I am hoping [the audience] take away the recognition that we are a community that is really threatened,” Jones says. “This film should be a call to action.”
He hopes this would lead to more exposure of how much of a threat HIV remains.
Purdy wishes similar things for attendees of the conference and the different community events.
“Really, I hope people have a new commitment or a recommitment to work together in this fight,” he says. “I would like them to share stories and remember the 30 million who have died from AIDS worldwide. There is a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Theater
‘The Inheritance’ is most-nominated at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards
42nd annual celebration of excellence in local theater set for May 18
Helen Hayes Awards 2026
May 18, 2026
For tickets go to theatrewashington.org
Last year, when out director Tom Story took on the daunting task of directing Round House Theatre’s production of “The Inheritance, Parts One and Two,” he knew that casting would be important, maybe even paramount, to the endeavor’s success. So, Story didn’t mess around.
Penned by queer playwright Matthew López, “The Inheritance” (inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel “Howards End”) is based on gay culture in the wake of the AIDS crisis.
Story looked at actors he knew, and some he didn’t. He wanted low drama and maybe players who could relate to the LGBTQ experience. In the end, the production’s 13-person cast was entirely queer except for brilliant local favorite Nancy Robinette as Margaret, the wise housekeeper.
Clearly, Story’s vision resonated with audiences. Round House’s production of “The Inheritance” is the most-nominated work of this year’s Helen Hayes Awards, earning 14 nominations. It’s also one of Round House’s highest grossing popular successes ever.
The queer cast members whose ages ranged from about 22 to 60, worked hard and enjoyed the process, and along the way garnered an Outstanding Ensemble in a Play (Hayes) nomination for their efforts.
The ensemble included Jamar Jones as Tristan, a brilliant doctor who leaves New York for Canada after deciding there’s no place for a gay, HIV-positive Black man in America. For the experienced actor, being part of “The Inheritance” was profound: “I think it was a divinely orchestrated production.”
He adds “I really feel that it’s so rare that you get to work on a show of that magnitude…size, time, where virtual strangers genuinely fell into rhythm. We became a cohort. I never felt a sense of unease, or reluctance to try things. I could be as big or bold as I wanted to be; or I could be small. Fail, mess up, try again. I didn’t feel judged.”
Jones considers Richmond his home, but says “I’m based where the work is.” Currently, he’s back at Round House rehearsing “Sally & Tom” (May 27-June28), a play within a play/meta exploration of the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by Suzan-Lori Parks.
Jones plays both a contemporary violinist and an enslaved fiddler, parts that have required him to learn to “air fiddle.” He’s all over it: “I want to represent the art and to be as precise as possible. Taught by an instructor, I’ve made strides with movement of the bow; next up is finger placement.”
Will he leave the play a violinist? “I’ll report back on closing night. Maybe I will have added something to the special skills list on my resume.”
For about a decade, Jones worked in living history, interpreting, performing, and writing pieces about the enslaved people of Colonial Virginia. Among the many historical characters he portrayed was Jupiter (Thomas Jefferson’s longtime enslaved manservant), an experience that’s proved a connection and preparation for his current role.
The 42nd Helen Hayes Awards celebration recognizing excellence in professional theater in the DMV will be held on Monday, May 18, 2026 at The Anthem on the District Wharf in Washington, D.C. Named for Helen Hayes, the legendary first lady of Broadway, the program consists of the awards presentation hosted by Felicia Curry, Awa Sal Secka, and Derrick Truby, followed by an after-party at nearby Whitlow’s.
With works selected from 149 eligible productions presented in the 2025 calendar year, nominations were made in 41 categories and grouped as either “Helen” (non-Equity/small Equity presence) or “Hayes” (Equity-heavy).
The many nominations are the result of 49 vetted judges considering 1,997 pieces of work, such as design, direction, choreography, performances, and more. The productions under consideration included 42 musicals, 107 plays, and 33 world premieres.
The following are more of this year’s queer nominees.
A past Helen Hayes Award recipient and nominee, Fran Tapia is competing against herself this year in the Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical (Helen) category. Nominated for her memorable turn as the diva barkeep in GALA Theatre’s “Columbia Heights Bolero Bar,” an immersive musical centered on songs of longing and immigration set in a diverse neighborhood on the eve of a divisive presidential election
“It was a challenging time, because a lot of what was happening in the show was happening in the neighborhood,” says Tapia who lives in Columbia Heights just eight minutes from GALA.
Based in D.C. since 2019, Tapia says “Being recognized in a country that is not my homeland but where I’m building my artistic home, is deeply meaningful. And the variety of roles I have been able to play speaks to the richness of DC theater and the collaborators who trusted me with these roles.”
Her other individual nomination is for the title role in Spooky Action Theater’s “Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show,” a passionately comedic political satire. She approached the mysterious central character as nonbinary.
Tapia (“Chilean, Latina, queer and proud immigrant”) says while very different, both performances involved particularly strong characters. She’s grateful audiences responded positively to her work.
Stanley Bahorek, who moved to D.C. with his husband four years ago, is best known as an accomplished actor with a long list of Broadway and regional credits (including playing Carl, the gay son in Studio Theatre’s recent production of “The Mother Play”). Now, he is nominated for Outstanding Music Direction (Helen) for his work on “A Strange Loop,” a production of D.C.’s Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA) in collaboration with Deaf Austin Theatre. He shares this nomination with Walter “Bobby” McCoy.
Michael R. Jackson’s Tony and Pulitzer wining play “A Strange Loop,” is the story of Usher, a Black, queer theater usher trying to write a musical. VOCA’s take on the work is seen through a deaf BIPOC lens with a deaf Usher played by a deaf actor (out actor Gabriel Silva). Invited by director and longtime friend Alexandria Wailes (who is deaf), Bahorek (who is hearing) joined the creative team as a sort of hybrid associate director/ music supervisor.
“I’m fluent in conversational American Sign Language (ASL),” he says. “I sort of functioned as a sherpa between the hearing and deaf and hard-of-hearing creatives. It’s been a great thrill to be a part of VOCA’s biggest production to date.”
If he and McCoy take home the prize, who makes the acceptance speech? Bahorek takes a beat before replying “That’s something we still need to talk about. And soon.”
A full list of award recipients will be available at theatrewashington.org on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
Anthony Oakes will host “DC Black Pride Comedy Show” on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m.
Oakes will workshop his new hour about addiction, incarceration, recovery, and redemption with special guests.
This event will be hosted by the hilarious Apple Brown Betty with TJ So Silly, Howl Cooper, and featuring Patrice Deveaux. DJ Art.is will be spinning on the 1’s & 2’s. Libations will be provided by Drink Alchy. Images by RGF ENT. Tickets are $28.52 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Out & About
United Night Out set for Saturday
Team DC hosts evening of soccer, Pride, music, drag and community
On Saturday, May 16, Team DC is taking over Audi Field for United Night OUT as D.C. United faces St. Louis SC.
Come out for an evening of soccer, Pride, music, drag, and community. The night kicks off with pre-game fun featuring DC Different Drummers, DJ Heat, and a Pride Night OUT Party at the Heineken Rooftop. Then get ready for a 7:30 p.m. match, including the National Anthem sung by Dana Nearing and a halftime drag performance.
After the match, the celebration continues at the Post-Game Rooftop Party with DJ Heat and the After Party at Dacha Navy Yard. Game tickets and after party tickets are available now through Zeffy. After party tickets are $20 and include one drink.
‘The Inheritance’ is most-nominated at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
DC Black Pride is around the corner
United Night Out set for Saturday
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