Moving and Poignant, APT’s ‘Casey and Diana’ Mixes Laughter and Tears

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Photo by Michael Brosilow

Hannah Ruwe and La Shawn Banks - Casey and Diana (2026)

Hannah Ruwe and La Shawn Banks in American Players Theatre's production of 'Casey and Diana' (2026).

It has been three years since Nick Green’s powerful play about AIDS, Casey and Diana, had its world premiere at Canada’s famed Stratford Festival. The play earned numerous awards and was mentioned on many critic’s lists as one of the 10 best plays that year. Now the play joins the 47th season of American Players Theatre in Spring Green. It continues through September 24 in the 200-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre.

As the play opens, a pair of hospital beds, a portable tray on a stand and a rug are all that can be seen of Casey House, Toronto’s first stand-alone hospice for AIDS patients. In 1991, the staff welcomed a real-life visit by Princess Diana.

There’s one small exception. One sees a small model of the house itself, poised at the front of the stage. The tiny replica is soon moved to a less visible spot, but the audience has a good idea of the place where Canadian HIV/AIDS patients once came to die.

Milwaukee theatergoers may recall that another of Nick Green’s plays, Dinner with the Duchess, was part of Next Act Theatre’s spring season. The play, about the retirement of a virtuoso violinist, starred the well-known actor, Laura Gordon.

In terms of Casey and Diana, theater patrons with vivid memories of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic will recall the fear and misinformation swirling around a new and horrifying illness. For a long time, doctors didn’t have a lot of answers. For those who tested positive, the prognosis was one that nobody wants to hear. Many of those with HIV/AIDS were young adults with their whole lives ahead of them. They never expected that their future would be cut so short.

Sensitivity and Care

Playwright Nick Green shows a great deal of knowledge and understanding of those early years. One suspects that, like many of us, he recalls the difficulty of saying goodbye to so many people. Funerals were a frequent occurrence, as friends, family members with AIDS died quickly over a few short weeks or months. Each month, it seemed, brought national news of celebrities who were diagnosed with AIDS.

But life, whether short or long, can still be filled with laughter and compassion. Casey and Diana displays plenty of both. Overall, this play is a perfect candidate for the intimate Touchstone Theater.

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Photo by Michael Brosilow

Joe Meyer, Colleen Madden and La Shawn Banks - Casey and Diana (2026)

Joe Meyer, Colleen Madden and La Shawn Banks in American Players Theatre's production of 'Casey and Diana' (2026).

The beating heart of this production is La Shawn Banks, an APT regular who has also appeared on Milwaukee stages. He plays Thomas, one of the hospice’s residents. In his brief time at Casey House, Thomas has seen three roommates come and go. The latest to arrive is Andre (Joe Meyer). Like Thomas, Andre has been rejected by his family. He is emphatically alone. Marjorie, one of the Casey House volunteers (APT regular Colleen Madden) encourages Andre to call his parents, to let them know where he is. Andre is surprised that they’ve changed their phone number without notifying him.

Emotional Roller Ride

Casey and Diana is, if anything, an emotional roller coaster ride. It has audiences laughing out loud one moment and sniffling into a Kleenex in the next. It also honors those who try to make a patient’s last days as comfortable as possible.

The Casey House staff is led by Vera (APT regular Elizabeth Ledo), a no-nonsense presence in these patient’s lives. Thomas and Vera banter freely with each other, as if they’ve known each other for years. Thomas rarely misses an opportunity to make bitchy jokes, and Vera is a prime target by virtue of her near-continuous presence. Whatever he says, Vera takes it in stride.

Marjorie, the upbeat volunteer, takes her direction from Vera. When Marjorie appears to be “stepping over the line” in terms of her involvement in one of the patient’s lives, Vera is there to reel her back to reality. The indestructible Vera even knows how to handle “difficult” family members who come round to visit. One of these is Thomas’ adult sister, Pauline (played with great authenticity by Dee Dee Batteast). Pauline is distressed because Thomas refuses to see her, and she takes out her frustration on Vera.

Waiting for Royalty

When it’s announced that Princess Diana will visit within a week, it becomes the residents’ task to keep on living until the princess shows up. Patients seem to be eating more, and the men are requesting more shaves. They want to look their best for the royal visit.

Thomas is eager for his moment with the princess, so he can let her know that he and his sister “watched every minute of her wedding.” For the staff’s benefit, Thomas recounts nearly everything that happened on Diana’s wedding day. He even mimics Diana’s movements as she leaves her carriage for the church.

Of course, the fact that Diana died young herself is not lost on the playwright, nor on director Michael Herwitz. That makes it even sadder when a fresh-faced, formally dressed Diana (Hannah Ruwe) makes her entrance near the end of the play. Ruwe completely convinces us Diana with her excellent posture, thoughtful demeanor and seemingly genuine concern for these patients.  

One of the more upbeat scenes is when Pauline finally makes a successful visit to see her brother, Thomas. He has been miffed at his sister’s indifference to his situation. Even now, Pauline is hesitant to touch Thomas. They talk about their memories of growing up together as a team, united against their neglectful parents and a revolving door of foster families. Throughout their lives, they’ve only depended on each other. Their apparent reunification at Casey House is a tender moment that will long be remembered.

Supporting the cast is a production team that includes set designer Scott Penner, lighting designer Zack Lobel, and music composition and sound design by Joe Cerqua (who is also the resident composer for Madison’s Forward Theater).

Surely many audience members at Casey and Diana will recall the people they knew who were lost to AIDS. But in a way, that’s a good thing. Those people deserve to be remembered.

“Casey and Diana” runs through September 24 in the Touchstone Theater at American Players Theatre in Spring Green. The play runs 2 hours, 20 minutes with one intermission. For tickets, go online to americanplayers.org, or call the box office at 608-588-2361.