Angels in America (original 1995; edition 2003)

This is the first play I've ever read where I actually pictured the entire story acted out on stage. Maybe that sounds stupid because hello, it's a play. But in the admittedly low number of plays I've read before this (more than half of which were written by Shakespeare), I always visualized the story like I was watching a movie. Kind of how it is when I read novels I guess. I don't know if the difference here was due in part to the very adamant and specific staging notes preceding the play, but while reading this I actually felt as if I was looking up at the stage as part of the audience. I can't tell you how much that actually needs to happen now. Damn, this was good. ( )

Oooohhhhh Christ what a play. Expect me back in a few hours after I devour Part II. ( )

I'll never forget watching the HBO series version of this play. It was brilliant, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.

Angels in America is actually two plays: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika. Both are set in the mid-1980s, with the second following the first after a break of a few weeks. Really, they’re two parts of the same story, even though they were published separately at first. Angels in America is about people in New York City struggling with all kinds of things, from mental and emotional problems to identity crises to terminal illnesses. Their stories overlap with one another to form the fabric of the story.

There are a ton of themes in these plays: love and hate, friendship and marriage, religion and belief, sexuality, illness, life and death, politics, and I bet a lot I’ve missed. It never felt like too much, though. All the themes are gloriously interwoven, overlapping and blending into one another. I think Angels in America is accessible at any level.

My full review is posted on my blog, Erin Reads. ( )

I read this for class and it was just the most astounding thing ever. Bitingly incisive, uproariously funny, painful, and just brilliant playwriting. It's no wonder this is considered one of the greatest plays written in modern times. Read this and then watch the HBO miniseries. ( )