Open Space Arts

November 3, 2026
7:00PM

1411 W. Wilson Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60640

A Quiet End

Written by Robin Swados. Three men, a teacher, an aspiring jazz pianist, and an unemployed actor, share a worn Manhattan apartment. All have lost their jobs, faced rejection from their families, and are living with AIDS. Through their relationships with one another, an unseen psychiatrist, and a former lover, the play explores friendship, loyalty, faith, fear, and the meaning of chosen family.

First produced in 1986, A Quiet End was among the earliest theatrical works to examine the human experience of the AIDS crisis. Rather than concentrating on politics, it gives its attention to the men themselves, celebrating people who, in the face of death, become determined to embrace life.

Open Space Arts presents the long-overdue Chicago premiere as a special 40th-anniversary, pay-what-you-can staged reading. Runtime is 60 minutes.

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