Before John Diamond wrote a famous diary about his terminal illness, there was Totteridge journalist Oscar Moore. Now his life story has become a play, writes LEIGH COLLINS

A Totteridge journalist who wrote a celebrated Guardian column about his terminal illness is the subject of a new West End play.

Oscar Moore was 36 when he finally succumbed to Aids in September 1996, having written about the day-to-day experience of fighting a losing battle in his monthly PWA (Person with Aids) column since April 1994.

Moore's column, which was the first of its kind in this country, was honest, self-deprecating, angerless and full of dry humour, won the hearts and minds of thousands of readers.

The columns were turned into a book, PWA The Diaries of Oscar Moore, and have now been turned into a play of the same name, which opens on Thursday at the Drill Hall theatre in the West End.

"As far as I'm concerned, putting it on the stage is a continuation of what he was trying to do," said his father Michael from the family home in Great Bushey Way, where his son grew up.

"He was infected and he was trying to chronicle what it was all about. There was an inevitability about it in those days," he continued.

"What Aids people suffer from is appalling and amazing. Before he died, he was completely blind. Again he was very positive, he went on a touch-typing course run by RNIB. He didn't give in to any of it."

Due to their son's illness, Michael and his wife Elisabeth became involved in working with the blind. Elisabeth is now the editor of the Barnet Borough Talking Newspapers the talking version of this newspaper.

The Oscar Moore Foundation was set up in his memory by the film industry magazine Screen International, which he edited. It awards the annual Oscar Moore Screenwriting Prize of £10,000 to up-and-coming writers.

The play features one actor recounting Oscar's tales, with a series of images projected onto the walls around him. There will also be a series of video diaries from other contributors aiming to place Oscar's story in a current medical and global context.

Performances take place at the Drill Hall, Chenies Street, London, WC1, until November 3. Tickets cost £12-15 (£5 for Sunday matinees) from the box office on 020 7307 5060.

October 10, 2001 18:43

LEIGH COLLINS