Angels in America

And the week begins with a play (instead of a book)... yes Tisch again!  Angels in America by Tony Kushner is a complex story, actually two individual plays occurring at different times (Millennium Approaches and Perestroika) but with the same characters and a continuation of the story.  And special note, Kushner also studied directing at Tisch, where one of the plays was work-shopped (amazing talent at NYU!).   The play is set in NYC during the Reagan years when the AIDS epidemic was occurring.  A couple of the main characters grapple with the disease but from varying places (a high powered, politically connected, closeted lawyer and a “WASP” lover of a gay Jewish man).  The intersections between this life, the after-life, and the future life all collide on the barren set.  Religion (Protestantism, Mormonism, Judaism, and Catholicism) intersects with the underground gay male culture being decimated by the AIDS epidemic and the political response of the Washingtonian leadership during the '80s.  A subplot of another character whose wife is addicted to pills and her belief that her husband is gay, which actually unfolds through the story, shows the challenge of a male's struggle with his sexuality.   Roy Cohn, the high powered attorney, goes from the heights of society and being connected to every politician to being disbarred for stealing monies from a client.  At the end he has some level of optimism as he is able to procure AZT, the miracle drug for AIDS, through his connections demonstrating, even facing a horrible death, he is still fighting.  Kushner’s work as a play was recently back on Broadway as a two evening event spanning 7 hours!  Kushner hits the mark for this issue during the height of our society’s awareness for the deadly disease.  Kushner’s offering of the depth of character development and intricate fascination with the angels/devils at a serious complication to the traditional “linear play.”  His criticism of the government’s response with outreach and response further captures the moment in time for future theatre-goers hundreds of years from now to better understand how divided our society is.  As a director, I have a really hard time thinking that this could be staged over a seven hour period.  As an audience member, not sure if I could sit for seven hours….let’s get back to some novels.