MiniReview: "First Time" by Nathaniel Hall

 What is it?

It’s a play by English writer/performer/activist Nathaniel Hall, originally produced in Greater Manchester in 2018.

What’s it about?

It tells Hall’s own story, of contracting HIV the first time he had sex, in 2003, at the age of sixteen, and his subsequent years of shame at being HIV-positive, which led to excessive drug-taking and self-destructive behaviour. He didn’t reveal his HIV status to his parents until 2017.

An unusual theme for a play.

I haven’t really read or heard about another play that focuses specifically on the lives of men who are HIV-positive, and the associated stigma. It’s an important issue to discuss, and the play does a good job of getting that story out there in a very personal way.

Is it a good read, this play?

I didn’t really find it to be so. The theatre production was highly visual and physical, so much of the published text is a description of the activities that are happening on the stage, which I don’t really enjoy reading. Maybe other people do! But when I read plays, it’s for the text. And the text here, while it is undoubtedly telling an important story, is rather basic; you really need the visuals.

The message that the play is delivering is vital and deeply felt, and I have no doubt the experience of seeing the production would have been memorable. As well, there are some interesting and useful added bits in the published text, providing further insight into HIV, with suggestions for workshops to accompany the text. All interesting and important and useful, but what I’m reviewing here is the play text, as a reading experience.