Perhaps the most overused term when touting a theatrical production these days is “immersive.” Do elements of the stage set extend into the seating area? Is there no proscenium? Are there a few seats for audience members jammed onstage? Then the promos are quick to promise “An unforgettable immersive experience!”
For a truly immersive theatrical adventure, however, I firmly recommend “Fight Back,” which transports attendees back to New York City in the late 1980s. This was a desperate time when AIDS was decimating the LGBT community, and the brash activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) was formed to demand funding and research to fight the deadly disease. “Fight Back,” I must admit, is one of the most provocative, wholly immersive theatre pieces I’ve ever encountered.
The kicker? There are no actors and there is no audience.
That’s because “Fight Back” strives to recreate an actual ACT UP meeting, held on March 13, 1989 to be exact, staged at the LGBT Community Center where meetings were actually held. Everyone who attends is a participant, assigned a role beforehand, and wears a nametag of their persona (a brief biographical profile is provided to help you get into character). These individuals were dedicated ACT UP members who would have attended the meeting.
Your level of involvement is completely up to you. You can interact with your pre-assigned group members during the introduction period, chime in during the meeting, or request a role as facilitator to help lead the meeting. The challenge is that you (and everyone else) must stay in character — and in time period — from the moment you enter the room until the meeting is adjourned. That means no cell phones allowed.
The mastermind behind this ambitious project is David Wise, a multidisciplinary artist specializing in interactive performance art relating to the rich history of New York. The main goal is to foster empathy towards ACT UP activists, who many consider heroes.
During a recent phone conversation, when asked how best to categorize “Fight Back,” described as a “theatrical experiment” on its website, Wise had no easy answer.
“You could describe it as a happening,” he said. “Some people would describe it as live action role play. It’s sort of trying to do its own thing.” The event has taken place several times over the last year or so, with the next iteration slated for October 30.
According to Wise, the genesis of “Fight Back” was sparked by reading Sarah Schulman’s political history of ACT UP, “Let the Record Show.” He was struck by how passionate members were at the weekly Monday night meetings.
“People talked about them being filled with such interesting different emotions of empowerment and sadness and tedium and sexiness,” he recounted. “That’s something I would love to have experienced.” At that moment he realized, why not try to recreate it artistically?
The project is based on extensive research to maintain historical verisimilitude. Wise viewed scores of video interviews with ACT UP members, and read the minutes from countless weekly meetings, and chose one with the most compelling detail. Then he crafted an agenda listing topics covered in the meeting, such as participation in the upcoming Lesbian and Gay Health Conference, voting on a poster lambasting Mayor Ed Koch for a “Target City Hall” action, or announcing a memorial service for yet another fallen ACT UP member.
When prepping for the meeting, I was surprised by how many names I recognized on the roster of “personas.” These included ACT UP luminaries Amy Bauer, Spencer Cox, David Leavitt, Ann Northrop, Rollerena, Eric Sawyer, Sarah Schulman, Michelangelo Signorile, and Peter Staley.
On the night I attended, one of the most striking scenarios was a civil disobedience demo, teaching how to behave during an arrest. People playing the role of protestors, wearing trademark “Silence = Death” t-shirts, were dragged across the floor by others playing the role of cops.
“People are putting their bodies on the line,” Wise said. “A lot of ‘Fight Back’ is that if you’re actually doing something, then you’re experiencing it. You’re feeling it.”
He recalled that during one performance, the security guards at the Center rushed in because they were alarmed by the loud commotion during the demo exercise.
The meeting is largely run by various facilitators and committee heads, and not by Wise, who assumes the understated role of Jason Heffner, the ACT UP administrator. He is stationed up front to keep an eye on things, acting as a sort of guard rail should events veer off course. The night I was there, for example, a facilitator asked people to raise their hands if they were HIV-positive. Like many attendees, I was shocked. Luckily, Wise jumped in.
“I knew that would never have happened,” he said. “I felt it in my body, I couldn’t let that go forward.”
There was another cringe moment when a confused attendee mentioned Luigi Mangione, the “hot assassin” accused of murdering the United Healthcare CEO about a year ago, causing the room to erupt in nervous laughter. Wise chose not to intervene. Everyone stayed in character and, within seconds, got the proceedings back on track.
“It was a great collective experience of all doing that,” he said. “And then we just moved right on.”
While those who volunteer to be facilitators are offered extra resources to help them prepare, they have no formal training.
“It’s a hard thing to prep for in advance,” Wise explained. “You’re thrown into it in a very interesting way in that what you’re trying to do is not just facilitate the meeting, but facilitate the meeting as though you’re an experienced facilitator.”
At one point, a facilitator led the room in the trademark chant, “ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!” which energized the crowd.
My personal experience with “Fight Back” was exhilarating yet bittersweet. When I spied a young man wearing a nametag that said “Stephen Gendin,” I was sharply taken aback. Beloved for his can-do attitude and devilish smile, Stephen was one of my Fire Island housemates, and I attended his memorial service (he died of AIDS-induced lymphoma in 2000). He was even featured on the cover of Poz magazine. I was so overcome with emotion I had to walk away.
During the introductory session, I ran into a good friend I hadn’t seen in a while, but we couldn’t chat about our current lives. We needed to stick to our assigned personas. So we simply introduced ourselves and improvised a conversation about favorite gay clubs that were open in New York City in the late 1980s.
My persona was Michael Nesline, a member of the graphic design committee who had a rocky love affair with Peter Staley, one of ACT UP’s most celebrated activists. When I approached the person wearing Peter’s name tag and mentioned our breakup, he had no clue what I was talking about. To his credit, he graciously steered our conversation into safer territory.
When asked what the reaction has been to the project, Wise said he was both pleased and relieved, given the experimental nature and risk of things going south.
“I think it’s been really great,” he enthused. “A lot of people tell me they were nervous that they wouldn’t be able to do it. No one has felt afterwards that they were uncomfortable or couldn’t do it. So that’s gratifying to me.”
Wise also cited the current oppressive political climate and the need to revisit successful activist strategies from the past.
“Somewhat miraculously, “Fight Back” just works,” he continued. “I mean, some things work better than others. It’s sort of a crapshoot…it casts its own spell. I think some people come and think, oh, well, there must’ve been ringers there, or that there must’ve been actors who are keeping it going. But there really aren’t. And I do my best to stay out of it.”
Fight Back | The LGBT Community Center | 208 West 13th St. | $25 suggested donation | October 30, 2025, 7 p.m. | 2.5 hours (approximate)
