Imagine losing your family, job, significant other and house all in the last three months of your life. This is the situation faced by Karen, a character in Knox United Church’s play Bonds.
Placed in present day Canada, Bonds is the story of a pair of completely opposite sisters, Karen and Anne, who, in the midst of despair, have been given a second chance at friendship. From years of intravenous drug use, Karen is diagnosed with AIDS and although awareness and education of the disease is readily available, Karen is shunned by society and must rely on her estranged sister for help.
According to the creator and director, Helen Young, the reaction Karen receives in Bonds is pathetically similar to the response AIDS victims get all over Canada today.
“Social death is when the general public isolates somebody,” explains Young. “[The general public] doesn’t want to know more; they don’t want to be involved. Especially with things people don’t feel comfortable with.”
When AIDS first appeared in North America, the lack of knowledge of the sickness caused irrational fearful responses. However, even though AIDS education has increased substantially, people continue to treat AIDS victims as second class citizens, leaving them with nowhere to go.
“I volunteered at an AIDS clinic and also as a buddy where you’re trained to go in and spend time with people that have AIDS so they’re not alone too much,” says Young. “Karen is all alone and it’s a desperate attempt when she contacts Anne and tries to get her to meet with her.”
There is an unspoken competitiveness between sisters: hatred and love battle each other for prominence without one ever winning out. They can simultaneously be your best friend and nastiest rival, but no matter what happens between sisters there is always that sense of obligation keeping them bonded.
In Bonds, Anne is the responsible older sister who is on her way up. Her life is exactly how she had hoped until she is forced to care for Karen in her last months.
“Anne is the caretaker taking care of the sick one, but as the play continues the roles slowly become reversed and Karen becomes the caretaker,” Young gently explains. “As the dying come to terms with what’s happening, there comes a calmness over them, but it’s the people that are left behind that have the hardest time with death.”
Taken from personal experiences with AIDS victims, Young wrote Bonds to showcase the treatment of AIDS victims and to illustrate the resilient bonds between family members.
“I want the audience to leave thinking about a sense of family and a sense of friendship,” she says. “It’s more of a personal experience for everybody.”