Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Parts 1 & 2

"It isn't easy. It doesn't count if it's easy. It's the hardest thing, forgiveness. Maybe that's where love and justice finally meet."

These words, spoken by Belize, the moral center of the play, define what the play is about. Forgiveness, of others who have wronged us, and of ourselves when we have wronged others, is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. Husbands and wives, mothers and sons, gods and humans, lovers, friends, political adversaries, every relationship in this play requires forgiveness.

I didn't particularly like this play, until that line was spoken by Belize in the final act. And then it all made sense, and I realized it might be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Millennium Approaches: 4.5 Stars. This play is so vast and beautiful yet ugly and gritty. It elates and disgusts--terrifies and intrigues. It poses questions that many of us ask and that many of us are too afraid to ask. It is the most realistic fantasy of life in play form that I have ever read and will always have a special place in my heart.

Perestroika: 5 Stars. Just wow. After having to read Millennium Approaches for a class, I decided to read Perestroika out of curiosity; but I never imagined it could be so...vast, so absolutely beautiful. The progression of the characters both in Perestroika alone and in the work as a whole is just riveting. No character is static, which kept my mind turning, trying to come to terms with each of show more them. I love the reality of their emotions. The reality of anger, of fear, of abandonment, of insane distancing. It all meshes together so well in a shower of emotions and ideologies and paradigms. Honestly, it's just hard to describe how much I enjoyed this play. Even the use of sex as a metaphor is handled so tactfully and candidly that it didn't turn me away from the play but really emphasized the tones and themes Kushner tried to present. The strongest part, however, was definitely the ending. The hope that just poured out of that last scene brought tears to my eyes, because it wasn't some fantasy hope filled with rainbows and unicorns, it was the hope of someone who knows that life sucks sometimes and that crap hits the fan unexpectedly sometimes, but that despite it all we can still keep moving forward. That sentiment is the most important thing I will take away from the entirety of Angels in America. show less

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 show more 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. show less

I haven't yet seen the HBO special based on this, but I can easily say that this play has broken ground in so many ways in the realm of modern theatre. I finished this epic work last night, and I had the unbelievable privilege of meeting Tony Kushner tonight and seeing him speak about the influence of Arthur Miller on his work. As I have been working on a reader's theatre involving Miller, this was a great opportunity for me in so many ways. Plus, I got to shake his hand and he signed my book. I can easily say that Kushner is third in a line of great American playwrights that influenced each other immensely (O'Neill, Miller, and then Kushner). Seeing him speak reemphasized the feelings I had about Angels in America and the deep feelings show more I was able to explore about the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Brilliant! show less

This is a beautiful depiction of some parts of the gay experience in America, and I liked it. There were moments when the drama really struck a chord with me because of my knowledge of gay history in the twentieth century.

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.

Maybe I just didn't get this play because I was reading it instead of watching it, but I just didn't really care for it much.