One of the earliest plays to address AIDS, The Normal Heart was Larry Kramer’s furious admonition of those he saw as muting the response to the mounting crisis.

Its central character is Ned, an activist who is desperately trying to organise an effective response to the mysterious condition that is killing increasing numbers of gay men. But Ned’s passion is not matched by his diplomacy or patience. In consequence he ends up antagonising a growing number of influential people, including the Mayor of New York.

Then it transpires that Ned’s new love, Felix, may also be coming down with the illness.

Given that it’s a tale about the emergence of AIDS, it’s obviously not one for happy endings. As an obviously autobiographical piece it is, instead, a platform for the anger and frustration felt by Kramer (and, indeed, many others) at the muted response to the emerging crisis. Hardly surprising, therefore, that Kramer went on to play an active role in the establishment of ACT-UP.

That being the case, it constitutes an important snapshot of a critical time in LGBT history: the unfolding nightmare, the slow response from the authorities – and the apparently inevitable community in-fighting.

And now it’s been turned into a movie.

Scheduled for release in 2014, it’s attracted big names like Julia Roberts and Mark Ruffalo. That being the case, let’s hope it serves to educate the general public (and the younger LGBT generation) about AIDS history the way Sean Penn’s Milk did about Harvey Milk.