I know you can't meaningfully separate the two part of Angels in America but I do like "Millennium Approaches" better than "Perestroika". ( )

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. ( )

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 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. ( )

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