The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer won Best Revival of a Play at the 2011 Tony Awards, The New York Times reports. The 1985 off-Broadway hit about the early AIDS epidemic made its Broadway debut this year. In accepting the award, Larry Kramer said: “I could not have written it had not so many of us so needlessly died. Learn from it, and carry on the fight. Let them know that we are a very special people, an exceptional people. And that our day will come.” Actors Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey won Tonys for their supporting roles in the play. The Book of Mormon—a satirical take on missionary work by Mormons in Uganda from the creators of South Park filled with AIDS jokes and other edgy subjects—won nine Tonys, including Best Musical.

To read the Times article, click here.