Sounding the Alarm : ‘Normal Heart’ is 10 years old, but its producers say the play’s angry, urgent message about AIDS is still critical, particularly for the young.

Larry Kramer’s decade-old “The Normal Heart” was the first play to speak openly about the AIDS crisis. It is an angry play, as though, says Nicholas Leigh, co-producer of the revival at the Whitefire Theatre, Kramer didn’t type his dialogue, but screamed it into his computer.

Leigh and his co-producer, G. Tucker Foreman, were with this production of “Normal Heart” at Scotland’s prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer, and the response to the play caused their decision to restage that version in Los Angeles. Kramer’s message of alarm, they say, is still needed.

Though the play speaks to the world of the early ‘80s, when AIDS was first emerging from the darkness of apathy, when, as Kramer states in the play, President Ronald Reagan publicly stated that he would not back AIDS research because that would signify that his Administration accepted homosexuality, the producers say that its statement and value are still pertinent.

Foreman says he is bothered by the fact that the perception in America is still generally that AIDS is a gay disease, a gay problem, and that this is just a gay play about a gay problem.

“It’s just not right,” Foreman says. “We find that the largest growing AIDS community in this country right now is heterosexual women. This play speaks to everybody. What bothers us is that 10 years ago you were dealing with a very conservative Administration, and, what was it, 1986 or 1988 before the President of the United States would even mention the word AIDS. We’re dealing now with a President who is liberal enough that he has feeling for the problem that is out there. He has appointed an impressive group of people to deal with this problem. But it’s not getting dealt with enough. It’s easy to say that we want to take care of childhood diabetes, because that kills people too. AIDS is a much bigger threat. You’re not going to give somebody diabetes.”

Leigh feels that though more people today are aware of the disease, and aware of safe sex, he isn’t sure if more people are really doing something about it. “A lot of prominent people,” Leigh says, “hide behind the red (AIDS awareness) ribbon. You know, you wear it on your lapel, and all of a sudden it’s like, here it is, ‘I’m aware of the disease,’ but does that mean they’re doing anything? People wear it, and it quells their own fear that they haven’t done something about it.”

What impressed both Leigh and Foreman in Edinburgh were the strong reactions to the play’s power. The director of the Fringe production, and this Whitefire revival, Ekta Monica Lobo, had her father as a guest at one of the performances. He is a doctor who deals with AIDS patients in Michigan. After the curtain calls, he came backstage to make sure the actors portraying the people with AIDS were all right. And a local Edinburgh teacher brought her teen-age students to a performance, and later wrote the company that it was the greatest learning experience she could have given her class.

The producers realize that their audience might be predominantly those already committed to fighting AIDS, but they especially want young people to come. They believe it’s imperative that the young are informed about AIDS. Foreman, who is 25, worries about their sense of invincibility. He remembers driving when he was 16 without a seat belt, because he felt he was a better driver than anyone else. He always wears a seat belt now.

Leigh adds, “We’re hoping that changes, young kids’ perceptions. Unfortunately that change of perception comes at the expense of a Magic Johnson, who appeals to such a younger group. And Arthur Ashe. Athletes--hey, you talk about invincibility. I grew up in L.A., a huge Laker fan. I remember watching Magic Johnson stand up there and tell us, ‘You can get AIDS. I did. It’s not just a gay disease.’ ”

Leigh is adamant that “Normal Heart” is not just a gay play, not a political play, but a play about loving, and being able to love.

And particularly for Foreman, there is a personal meaning to getting the message out there. A cousin, who is five years his senior, has had full-blown AIDS for the past three years. He works with the Clinton Administration’s AIDS task force.

“Growing up he was absolutely my idol. He was big in sports, a wonderful football player. He was a huge, strapping athlete, his dad played pro football, and he was just a very handsome guy. He was somebody I just looked up to and idolized. And to have someone so close to me, and so important to me, all of a sudden become vulnerable, it absolutely changes every aspect of your life. It changes everything you want to do. But I’m stuck with the fact that, no matter how fast we get this taken care of, my cousin’s not going to be around. It’s a very hard thing for me to deal with. Doing this play in some way makes me feel, without having to say the words directly to him, ‘Thank you very much. You’re a very important person to me in my life.’ ”

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WHERE AND WHEN

What: “The Normal Heart.”

Location: Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.

Hours: 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. Ends May 14.

Price: $12; $9 for students with ID.

Call: (213) 466-1767.