Feldshuh, a consultant on the script, visited the cast in production in Atlanta last October. I believe the actors and crew were doing this project in part because they felt this was a story they wanted to tell. They made personal sacrifices to make sure the story was told. The play and movie, he said, are dedicated to exploring questions of trust and betrayal and Miss Evers' struggle to find some moral ground in this wrenching tug of war between her duty and the men she cares about. Feldshuh is pleased with the treatment his work has received in the film.
Theater is much more selective about what it's going to show.
The movie provides some interesting psychological nuances from the characters with the use of close-ups that you can't always get on stage. The film develops more fully the romantic relationship between Miss Evers and one of the male patients, a relationship that is only suggested in the play. But the key elements and the spirit of the play are well adapted to the screen. It's about realities that people don't want to recognize, such as the fact that Macon County had a large number of syphilis cases among its African-American male population. The reason was not morality but the lack of education.