SOURCE: A review of The Normal Heart, in The Christian Science Monitor, 29 April 1985, p. 28.

In the following, Beaufort judges The Normal Heart propagandistic and censures Kramer's "sweeping (and sometimes questionable) generalizations. "

Like As Is, an Off Broadway production bound for Broadway, Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart deals with the effects of a malady known as AIDS (the medical acronym for "acquired immune deficiency syndrome"). Written in anguish and anger, the new drama at the Public/Luesther Hall features documentation, strident polemic, propaganda, and a doomed homosexual romance.

Mr. Kramer particularizes the devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic in the relationship between his two central characters, a novelist (Brad Davis) and a New York Times reporter (D. W. Moffett).

The author is intent on indicting those in the public and private sectors whom he charges with having failed to respond promptly and adequately to the AIDS threat. While censuring...