It is the end of the 1980s and Aster is doing her bit by befriending Liverpool HIV patients. She is well-meaning and resilient but has one flaw: she has a compulsive way of spoiling the plot. In Tasha Dowd’s play, whenever Aster recommends a book, she always lets slip the twist on the final page.
What starts as a quirky character trait grows into a metaphor. There will come a point when the medication of Marc, the man to whom she becomes closest, will cease to keep him alive. At that moment, he will need to cut short his life story and skip to the end.
