Ron Vawter’s Roy Cohn/Jack Smith – A Screening and Conversation

To mark World AIDS Day and the 25^th anniversary of Ron Vawter’s extraordinary solo show Roy Cohn/Jack Smith, LADA is delighted to screen the documentation of Vawter’s performance at the ICA in 1993 as part of LIFT.

The screening will be followed by a conversation between the writer, performer, director, and new LADA Patron Neil Bartlett, and the writer, former Wooster Group performer and close friend of Vawter, Nancy Reilly.

Roy Cohn/Jack Smith was one of the seminal theatrical events of the 1990s, in which Vawter portrayed the power-broker, right-wing activist, and Trump family lawyer Roy Cohn and the celebrated queer film and theatre maker Jack Smith – two men who had very different relationships with their sexuality and both of whom died of AIDS in the 1980s. Vawter himself died of AIDS in 1994.

Ron Vawter did a benefit gig during his ICA run for Positively Women, a charity working to improve the lives of women and children affected by the HIV/AIDS virus. LADA will be making a donation to Positively Women in memory of Vawter for this event, and encourages all attendees to do the same.

Roy Cohn/Jack Smith was first presented by Garage Productions at The Performing Garage, New York in 1992.  It was conceived and performed by Ron Vawter, directed by Gregory Mehrten and created with Clay Shirky and Marianne Weems. Roy Cohn was written by Gary Indiana. JACK SMITH was from Smith’s What's Underground About Marshmallows?

The evening will also include a short presentation from sex-positive, queer, healthcare and human rights activist Dan Glass about the World AIDS Day Bang Bus Tour.