A Reprise of Highly Personal Stories About AIDS

Four years ago, 13 Angelenos--straight women, teen-agers and gay men--took to the stage at the Skylight Theatre to tell their AIDS stories in “AIDS/US.” Now another cast has assembled to create “AIDS/US II,” which plays tonight at the Gallery Theatre in Barnsdall Park.

“AIDS/US II” is a self-styled docudrama charting the wide-ranging effects of acquired immune deficiency syndrome on a dozen people’s lives.

“The emotional range is different than before,” said director Michael Kearns, who performed his own one-man show, “Intimacies,” as part of the weekend program at the theater. “This time, the people are more matter-of-fact; they’re not filled with denial: ‘We’re gonna beat this.’ They’re positive, but also more accepting.”

The participants (seven of whom are personally dealing with some level of the disease; the others, parents, friends and “significant others”) have had their words assembled by playwright James Pickett, who has juxtaposed the stories with slides and music.

“There’s an enormous amount of love and fun, life-affirming relationships evolving,” Kearns said. “It’s not all dark. You have to accept the bitter with the sweet.”

“AIDS/US II” will travel to several venues in the coming weeks--always with no admission charge--beginning at 8 tonight at Barnsdall and followed by performances July 1, 8, and 15 at the Chapel of St. Francis and St. Mary of the Angels in Glendale; July 22 and 29 at the Skylight Theatre in Hollywood; and Aug. 5, 12, 19 and 26 at Highways in Santa Monica.

Also this month:

Monday: The political and social changes of mid-’70s England are the basis for Alan Drury’s “The Man Himself,” which has its U.S. premiere at Stages in Hollywood as part of the “Mondays at Stages” lineup. Ian Ruskin stars.

Wednesday: Gymnast-turned-actress Cathy Rigby spreads her wings and takes to the skies again in the 35th-anniversary production of “Peter Pan,” opening at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

Wednesday: William Inge’s ‘50s domestic drama, “Come Back, Little Sheba,” gets a revival at East West Players in Hollywood. Company artistic director Nobu McCarthy plays Lola, John Dullaghan is Doc.

Thursday: Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter,” a comedy of manners about a middle-aged actor and the three women pursuing him, opens at the Melrose Theatre in Hollywood. Richard Kline directs.

Thursday: Six actors search for theatrical jobs in New York in Francis Swann’s comedy, “Out of the Frying Pan,” opening at the Victory Theatre in Burbank.

Thursday: Curtis Zahn’s “The Plight of the Lessor Sawyer’s Cricket,” a romantic comedy about the perils of relating with converts to a fashionable cause, reopens at EZTV in West Hollywood. Proceeds will benefit the local environmental group Heal the Bay.

Friday: Sharon Barr tells the story of deluded former debutante Di Di Von Von Von Frithenberg in her acclaimed one-woman show, “Protect Me From What I Want,” moving to the Belly Room at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood.

Friday: Jill Sardenga’s mystery, “Specs,” is the offering of Cal State Northridge’s ACE program (providing artistic, cultural and entertainment opportunities for disabled people), playing three nights only at the campus’ Little Theatre.

Saturday: Two sisters hitchhiking across the country meet a charming deceiver in Stacy Roberts’ psychological drama, “Arizona Triangle,” premiering at the Callboard Theatre in West Hollywood.

Saturday: Kedric Robin Wolfe reprises his popular autobiographical odyssey, “Warren’s Story, in Performance” at the Saxon-Lee Gallery Theater in West Hollywood; the one-man show will play five performances only.

June 11: Neil Simon’s Tony Award-winning “Broadway Bound,” the playwright’s final installment in his autobiographical trilogy, opens at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills. Admission is free, but reservations are a must.

June 13: Frank Gilroy’s “The Only Game in Town,” the ‘60s story of a middle-aged showgirl’s desperate affair with a young gambler (Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty starred in the movie version) opens at the Richard Basehart Playhouse in Woodland Hills.

June 14: Richard Sewell’s “Winter Crane,” described as “a drama with dance based on a Japanese fable,” tells of a samurai warrior who discovers a magic crane; it opens at the newly reorganized Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.

June 14: Local literary performers Barry Yourgrau and Sandra Tsing Loh come to Hollywood’s Theatre/Theater in a double bill: Yourgrau’s “Safari” and Loh’s “ShiPOOpeE!--The American Musical De-Constructed.”

June 15: L.A. Theatre Works presents Robert Foxworth, Brenda Varda and Carolyn Seymour in the U.S. premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s “The Love of a Nightingale” (inspired by the Greek myth of Philomel) at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

June 16: Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This,” the story of a raunchy, raucous love triangle in contemporary New York, gets a revival in Camelot Artists’ production at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

June 17: John Herman Shaner’s “The War Against Women” will premiere at the Matrix Theatre in West Hollywood. Charles Marowitz directs.

June 25: The Fountain Theatre presents six short works in “The Big Picture: An Evening of Plays With a Different View of Disability.” The program, with a cast that includes disabled actors, will run for two nights only.