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Overview
Synopsis
In 1986, playwright Paula Vogel’s brother Carl invited her on a trip to Europe. Burdened with professional obligations and lack of financial means, she declined. Sadly, Carl died from complications of AIDS two years later. Having never gotten to take the European trip with her brother, Vogel instead wrote an imagined version in The Baltimore Waltz. Darkly funny and searingly satirical, the play examines AIDS and the government’s response to it using an absurd fictional disease: Acquired Toilet Disease (ATD). In a series of dreamlike comic scenes, travel-phobic schoolteacher Anna ventures out on a European romp with her brother Carl after being diagnosed with ATD. What begins as a surreal sitcom ends with a whiplash snap to realism and a bittersweet revelation that has left critics spellbound. Visceral, multilayered, and metaphorical, the play is one part farce and one part political statement with themes that still ring true more than three decades later.
Show Information
- Book
- Paula Vogel
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 1
- First Produced
- 1992
- Genres
- Drama, Satire, Dark Comedy
- Settings
- Contemporary, Multiple Settings, Simple/No Set
- Time & Place
- Various locales in the United States and Europe.
- Cast Size
- medium
- Orchestra Size
- None
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Dramatists Play Service
- Ideal For
- College/University, Ensemble Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Diverse Cast, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Early Teen, Late Teen, Young Adult, Mature Adult Characters, Medium Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
The name used to describe a number of potentially life-threatening infections and illnesses that happen when the body's immune system has been severely damaged by the HIV virus.
When an actor breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience.
A type of comedy that uses exaggeration, often with clowning and ridiculous behaviors, in order to entertain.
A literary device that applies a word or phrase to an object or action, when the two are not comparable.
A form of comedy that presents ridiculous extremes in order to make a point about society or human nature.
A type of television series that uses the same characters in various comedic situations
A disease that will inevitably lead to death.
Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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Guide Written By:
Kevan Dunkelberg
Oklahoma-based drama teacher, actor and playwright