Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches

Well that really was something.

It's hard for me to write a real review of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches because I finished it a few minutes ago and I'm dying, dying to start part two, Perestroika, which is sitting right next to me. But let's try anyway. Quick and dirty, no funny business.

This play is something special, and I knew that almost immediately. Reading the cast of characters page was a bit of a trip at first—it includes a drag queen-turned-nurse, two ghosts, a rabbi, Ethel Rosenberg, an Eskimo, an imaginary travel agent, and an angel, among others. But don't let that turn you off, because it is really, really, really good, and not as bizarre as you might think.

Right off the bat, the dialogue is superb. The way the show more characters speak and interact feels so real, and this isn't something I'd normally comment on but Kushner's use of punctuation is very effective, it gives a really good indication of the cadence of the lines without actually having to put any parenthetical direction into it. Everyone has a unique way of speaking, too, which is something I notice playwrights tend to struggle with without resorting to drastic accents or overly emotive stage cues.

And every character felt like a real person (not just the ones who actually were, like Roy Cohn & Ethel Rosenberg). It's stunning, truly, how well they're fleshed out despite the length of the play (far too short! I want more!) and the fact that they all have to share the spotlight. They transcend stereotypes in beautiful ways, their words are powerful but human, and the conversations they have are anything but easy and pleasant. They react to heartbreak and disease and confusion the way real people do, they don't act like characters in a play. And there wasn't a single one I disliked, not even the ones that act despicably or forsake the ones they love, because I can understand every one of them, and I can relate to something deep at the core of each one.

There are touches of surrealism, or magical realism at least—a mutual dream scene, a brief foray into Antarctica, divinity-induced arousal. But it really is remarkable how well these blend in with the rest of the piece, and even though they're clearly more fantastical, they feel no less real. I don't think I've ever pictured any play more clearly in my head than this; I had vivid mental images of every character, I could visualise the split scenes (another playwriting tactic Kushner uses to great effect here), I could see the heavenly light and the angel breaking out from above on the very last page, I could hear the triumphant sublimity of the chorus, Hallelujah!, Hallelujah! Glory to!

The whole play cultivates this incredible feeling of something coming, of being right on the very cusp of something profound and terrifying and blindingly beautiful, something unknown but all the more powerful for the not knowing. There's this sense of upheaval, of things set in motion, of being swept up into the awe-inspiring heart of mankind and everything we are. The climax comes at the very end, which of course leads right into part two, but the building anticipation is anything but unsatisfying. What is coming? What is on the other side? What is this grand, sublime thing that has come to save us or smite us, is it plague and damnation or salvation and "softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace"? What will happen when it arrives?

HARPER: I'm undecided. I feel... that something is going to give. It's 1985. Fifteen years till the third millennium. Maybe Christ will come again. Maybe seeds will be planted, maybe there'll be harvests then, maybe early figs to eat, maybe new life, maybe fresh blood, maybe companionship and love and protection, safety from what's outside, maybe the door will hold, or maybe... maybe the troubles will come, and the end will come, and the sky will collapse and there will be terrible rains and showers of poison light, or maybe my life is really fine, maybe Joe loves me and I'm only crazy thinking otherwise, or maybe not, maybe it's even worse than I know, maybe... I want to know, maybe I don't. The suspense, Mr. Lies, it's killing me.

In all this praise I realise I haven't yet answered the big question: What is Millennium Approaches actually ABOUT? Hard to say. I suppose I could just say "the 1980s" or "the AIDS crisis" and that would technically be true, but it wouldn't be much truer than saying the Statue of Liberty is a decently-sized figurine or the Grand Canyon is a large crack. It just doesn't cover it. Yes, the four main male characters are all homosexual; yes, two of them have AIDS; yes, it takes place in New York City in 1985/1986; yes, there's a drag scene and a gay sex scene and several dying-of-AIDS scenes. But the subtitle really says it all: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. A significant part of Angels in America is about homosexuality, certainly, but rather than ending the theme there—homophobia is bad, AIDS is bad, that's all folks thanks for coming—Tony Kushner uses it as a jumping-off point to explore the complexities of love, justice, identity, religion. And he does so beautifully.

If or when you get the chance, read this play. It is not to be missed. show less

In the first part of Angels in America, we meet the characters and learn their complicated relationships. The play takes place at the end of 1985 when information of HIV and AIDS was just emerging and there was still a lot of fear and misunderstanding about it. Our characters represent homosexuals in different circumstances. Joe is Mormon, married, and meets other gay men anonymously in Central Park. Louis is in a committed relationship with Prior. When the play opens, Prior is exhibiting signs of AIDS. Roy McCohn (based on a true person) is in absolute denial of his sexuality (he admits to having sex with men but denies he is gay - admits he has cancer but won't accept it's really AIDS). We also meet a down-to-Earth transvestite nurse show more named Belize who puts up with Roy's abuse to make him face the truth. Joe's wife, Harper, can't understand why he goes out every night but is afraid to ask and get an answer. She takes Valium and hallucinates.

We see the problems they face. Louis doesn't visit Prior in the hospital. Harper lashes back at Joe and tells him she is pregnant. Support systems fail and everyone is miserable.

At the end of Part 1 the Angel appears and greets Prior as a Prophet.

Good drama should make people uncomfortable and question things and these plays do just that. show less

A play that sets out not merely to ameliorate but to eradicate anti-gay sentiment, Angels in America opens as Louis's Jewish grandmother, who he has refused to visit, has her funeral, presided over by the remarkable Rabbi Issidor Chemelwitz, who takes about her not so much as an individual person but as "a kind of person" who make the "great voyage" from Europe to America that is no longer possible in our world. Louis discovers that his lover, Prior Walter, has AIDS and just as Walter fears Louis leaves him because death does not fit into his vision of the world or "how it should be." These views receive a strong rebuke from Louis's friend, Belize, the African American nurse who is one of the many human angels in this play. In the show more meantime, Louis begins to have sex with a Mormon lawyer named Joe, while Joe is invited to take a powerful position in Washington DC by Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn is facing disbarment proceedings for several reasons -- he stole money from a client -- and he looks to Joe, who works in the Justice Department in NYC, because "he needs eyes in Justice," by which he means someone who will manipulate matters so as to make the disbarment attorneys frightened of the repercussions of disbarring Roy. Joe refuses to go to Washington, DC, largely because his agoraphobic, valium-addicted wife does not wish to go there. In a dream, Harper encounters Prior, who informs her that her husband is gay, while she tells Prior he has a part of him deep inside that is free from illness. Belize encounters Joe in the hospital, and tells Louis that his current boyfriend is the "butt boy" for Roy Cohn, which provokes a violent breakup between the two men. Harper also confronts Joe about his gay identity, and decides to end the marriage with him, temporarily engaging in wish fulfillment fantasy with a man named Mr. Lies, who lets her go to Antarctica so that she can see the ozone layer (that is disappearing). As the first part of Angels in America arrives, Louis, who has already seen his ancestors, prepares for the advent of the angel, who comes with the "broom of truth" to sweep away lies. show less

My God, this is a brilliant play. It's relentless, and I felt like I was holding my breath the entire time I read it. "A gay fantasia on national themes," definitely.

This was amazing. I had initially planned on just reading the script, but when I picked it up I spontaneously looked on YouTube if there was a recording of a performance and oh yes, there was. It was incredible. Funny, tragic, surrealist and all-to-real. All the stars. A serious contender for my favorite play of all time.

A really great piece to explore in a college drama class, but I wouldn't read this normally. The story took a bit too much dissecting and really pushed symbolism and metaphor.

What a great play! If you ever get the chance to see it, do so. Especially see it if it's offered as a double bill with its sequel, "Perestroika." But be prepared for some uncomfortable moments. Kushner has pulled no punches on what it was like to be gay in America in 1985, not to mention be gay and have AIDS in America in 1985. I'm not entirely sure why the emphasis on Mormons in this show, unless the author has used that religion solely as a metaphor for repression. But my job is not to analyze, just to enjoy. I repeat: what a great play!