Despite advances in the fight against Aids, there has been an increase in HIV infections among youngsters in the last decade. This motivated the Museu da Vida to produce a play about HIV/Aids aimed at this audience. We present results of a study conducted with the public of 11 to 19 years based on the observation of nine presentations, five post-play debates and 220 questionnaires. Besides the positive reception and strong adherence from viewers, we observed the play was able to engage them in the debate on HIV/Aids. However, there is a lack of dialogue on the issue, which may be associated with the maintenance of stigma and discrimination. We conclude that the strategy of uniting health and theater in a science communication activity was successful, but there are still many challenges in terms of coping with HIV/Aids, especially among youngsters.
Keywords: Science communication; Science and art; Health and theater; HIV/ Aids.
