Mitchell Butel joins Regina Botros Backstage. He's an acclaimed actor, four‑time Helpmann Award‑winner, and Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company — and he's here to talk about STC’s powerful new production of The Normal Heart, on stage at the Drama Theatre in the Sydney Opera House.

Timed for Sydney Mardi Gras, this landmark play by Larry Kramer is set in early 1980s New York, during the terrifying, grief‑stricken and politically charged rise of the AIDS epidemic. The story follows a group of activists, lovers, friends, and fighters demanding to be seen, heard, and protected in a world that refused to acknowledge the crisis.