Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Part One: Millennium Approaches Part Two: Perestroika

In this epic play, subtitled a Gay Fantasia on National Themes, we follow the lives of a small group of people struggling with AIDS, love, and the meaning of forgiveness. Prior Walter has AIDS, and his lover Louis leaves him because he cannot handle it. Prior is later visited by the Angel, who deems him a prophet, but of what? Louis meets Joe whose marriage is collapsing, and the two find solace in each other. Roy Cohn is one of the most powerful men in America, so he cannot have AIDS because that would be a sign of weakness. Instead, he has cancer. "Angels in America" is a fantastic meditation on love and politics in the beginning years of the AIDS crisis that still has relevance today with its message of greater love and acceptance.

With ANGELS, Tony Kushner has accomplished what only a rare few Western writers have managed to do. Integrating biblical knowledge, classical history, myth, poetry and a vast understanding of the human heart in all of its best and worst guises, these plays illuminate with the blinding fire of the angel at its core, the great hypocrisies which lay just beneath the surface of our nation. Like Howard Zinn, and to some extent Studs Terkel, Kushner recognizes that we are not one nation under God. Instead, we seem to be a huge, selfish and confused hoarde attepting to move forward in time with primary moral references to the oldest, and in some ways, least applicable documents and sources of wisdom. Whether one believes that God is "dead" or not, I cannot imagine another work of literature which might promote a more useful theological discussion between so-called liberals and conservatives. Add to this the fact that the stories and characterization are gripping, the heroes are truly admirable and the villains reprehensible. Humans change in profound and permanent ways, and amid the pain of our time, there is -- after a reading of these remarkable plays -- still hope. For once in many years, the Pulitzer Prize moved in the right direction. Whether read or viewed on stage or in its most recent iteration as a superb HBO movie, ANGELS is one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime.

I went out and bought this almost immediately after I watched the HBO miniseries. I must say, Tony Kushner's masterpiece looks very good on screen, and it stays pretty faithful to this book (script) with only a few minor changes, most noticeably in Part Two, Perestroika. I normally don't like reading plays, finding the stage directions and minimal characterizations ungainly and somehow disappointing. After reading this, though, I have to admit, Angels in America looks fabulous anywhere: stage, screen, or in this case, even on paper. In the beginning, Kushner gives some "performance notes" about staging. There should be minimal scenery and props, scene changes should be fluid and easy, without the use of blackouts, perhaps suggesting a "single stream of conscious thought onstage." The special effects (flying, magical appearances) need not be perfect; wires may show, and perhaps it is best if they do; as if the magic of the theater is able to express the *magic* on stage. Reading this script opens a whole new door for people who have only seen the HBO mini-series. And while, I'm sure, seeing it onstage is best, reading the script is still an amazing experience. What Tony Kushner has accomplished in Angels in America is by and far one of the most extraordinary experiences that one is likely to have the pleasure of benefitting from. I know of no other play, or other dramatic enterprise, that engages the mind so thoroughly, in discussion of some of the most complex and controversial issues of our time, or any time. When reading this, you may feel overwhelmed. There appears to be so much happening, and the events may seem a complicated and tangled web. However, once you reach the end, to Prior's haunting yet uplifing closing monologue, there is a part of you that will understand it,no matter how small it may be. It sinks in, the message, the beauty, the pure humannes of the story, and you are changed.The Great Work begins...

Tony Kushner's two part epic play "Angels in America" istruly a landmark of United States literature. The two parts of theplay (subtitled "Millennium Approaches" and"Perestroika") together represent a passionate andintelligent exploration of American life during the era of PresidentRonald Reagan. Kushner peoples his play with individuals who are forthe most part "marginal" in some way in U.S. culture. Hischaracters include Mormons, gay men, men with AIDS, Jews, a drugaddict, and an African-American drag queen. These various perspectivesand voices allow Kushner to create some fascinating dialogues aboutthe "American dream"--and about the nightmares that can goalong with it. Kushner's cast of characters is excellently drawn, butperhaps his most astounding creation is influential lawyer Roy Cohn, afictionalized version of a real historical figure. A gay Jew who ishimself viciously homophobic, Kushner's Cohn is grotesque, hilarious,frightening, and seductive all at once. This character allows Kushnerto make fascinating statements about power, politics, and sexualidentity. Also brilliant is Kushner's use of Mormonism and itstheology as an integral component of the play. Kushner is the firstliterary artist I know of who has used Mormon themes and motifs insuch a consistently compelling and intelligent way. Kushner is, in myopinion, neither a proselytizer for nor a basher of Mormonism, but hispresentation of troubled Mormon characters and his apparent satirizingof some aspects of Mormon theology both strike me as potentiallycontroversial. Because Mormonism is a religion founded in the U.S.,this aspect of Kushner's play accentuates the essential"American-ness" of the piece. Kushner achieves a stunningblend of politically charged realism and fantastic, even playfulmysticism in "Angels." His writing is sharp and cutting attimes, and elsewhere tender and haunting. And the play is often quitefunny. Although the action of the play focuses on the Reagan era,"Angels" often takes in a much larger sweep of U.S., andeven world, history. "Angels in America" is a fascinatingmeditation on power and its abuse, on disease and healing, on honestyto oneself and to others, and on pluralism and bigotry. A masterpieceof 20th century literature, this is a play to be seen. But whether ornot you have seen it, it is also a work to be read and pondered.

Tony Kushner's epic play "Angels In America" is a phenomenal play because of its reality in today's society. There is no other play that I know of that accurately reflects our times and culture on such a controversial issue. The characters in the play become alive and you find yourself alive in each scene with them. Millenium Approaches and Perestroika tells the story of a few people trying to make sense of a cynical and judgmental world. In these characters' daily lives, Kushner deals with controversial issues such as homosexuality, AIDS, mental illness and the social and political problems they encounter. Beneath all the political and moral (religious) outrage, lurks a desire to understand what it means to live and die of AIDS in a world that is disconcerted about human life. Kushner also opens our eyes to the political leaders of the eighties, mainly Ronald Reagan, and their avoidance in dealing with the issue of AIDS. This is keenly shown in the conversations of the characters throughout the play. The choice of title for both parts of the play remarkably ties it all together. As the millenium approaches we can see society is starting to feel some compassion and hope for those suffering with such misfortunes as AIDS and mental illness which have been shrouded with a stigma. The ice is beginning to melt as society and political leaders can no longer avoid these maladies. The cold war, Perestroika, is finally dropping its curtain.