Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (1995)

An extremely engaging and personal read. I was very impressed with what Kushner had to offer as a playwright and that he went the extra mile in this work. Not perfect, in my opinion, but an incredibly well done job. ( )

astonishing ( )

Since I viewed this play again a few months ago, I was able to understand the script quite well. Even though this play was originally written in the 90's, it is unfortunately very relevant today. ( )

8

A surreal work that examines the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Bringing together such real people as Roy Cohn and Ethel Rosenberg (as a ghost, of course) with fictional characters created for the play, it creates a blending of fact and fantasy. Too long to be presented in one staging, the playwright broke the play into two parts, and both are presented in this text. It is easy to read and follow, in spite of surreal trappings, non-linear plots, and overlapping story lines. The story is simple and stark: men dying of AIDS in a world that would rather forget about them, and the political football of their disease, which arose just as America was sinking deep into an orgy of self-righteous ultra morality. The angels of the title are fighting against modernity, science, and progress; fortunately, the author doesn't take the usual direction for so many of these works and pretend that we would all be better and happier in an earlier, "simpler" day. He pushes back against the movement toward regression and reactionary movements from both the right and the left, and closes with a celebration of life moving on. A must read; in fact, if you have a chance to see it performed, it is also a must see. ( )