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Running time is 3 hours 35 minutes, including 2 intermissions.
Described by Steph Kirkland
Written by Tony Kushner
Directed by Kim Collier
VocalEye described Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches last April. Nominated for 9 Jessie Richardson Awards for excellence in theatre, the show received 3, including Best Production. The original cast, director and design team are returning for Part Two of this epic, post-modern masterpiece. I hope you can join us.
Witness the soaring conclusion to the acclaimed play that asks us what we do for those we love. Perestroika is a revolution against the politics and prejudice in the 1980s as the AIDS epidemic rages on, and the characters wrestle with their ideologies and an angel looking for an answer. In the centre of it all is Prior Walter, a man in a world of peril who chooses to live in his light.
The action takes place in New York City, December 1985.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Angels in America follows seven characters as they navigate the HIV/AIDS crisis and America’s shifting values at the turn of the twentieth century. This is where they are as Part Two begins:
Prior, a gay man living in New York, is diagnosed with AIDS. When his partner, Louis, leaves him, he struggles to cope, and begins hearing a mysterious voice. Determined to survive, Prior experiences increasingly surreal visions, culminating in the arrival of an angel, who crashes through his ceiling.
Belize, an African American nurse, supports Prior, his close friend, as his illness progresses. Belize meets with Louis, but this triggers a heated argument about racism in America and Louis’s choice to abandon Prior.
Louis, tormented by guilt yet unable to face Prior’s deteriorating health, seeks an escape through casual sex. Louis meets Joe at the courthouse, where they both work, sparking an attraction between them, but Joe denies that he is gay.
Joe is the Mormon protégé of controversial lawyer Roy Cohn. When Roy offers Joe a lucrative federal government position in Washington, D.C., this strains Joe’s marriage, which is already tense because of Joe’s doubts about his sexuality. Encouraged by Roy to leave his wife, Joe admits his attraction to Louis and they kiss.
Hannah, Joe’s mother, also a Mormon, receives a drunken phone call from Joe late at night. After he confesses to her that he is gay, she is anxious to see him. She sells her house in Salt Lake City and flies to New York.
Harper, Joe’s wife, is a Mormon who takes Valium for her agoraphobia (fear of public spaces). During a hallucination, she has a surreal meeting with Prior. Prior tells Harper that Joe is gay, but she refuses to believe him. Yet, when Harper eventually confronts Joe, he confirms her suspicions. Overwhelmed by Joe’s confession, she transports herself—through fantasy or hallucination—to Antarctica.
Roy Cohn, who is both a Republican lawyer and a closeted gay man, is diagnosed with AIDS. He is also at risk to lose his law license due to unethical conduct. As Roy’s health declines, the ghost of alleged communist spy Ethel Rosenberg appears, seeking retribution for the part that Roy played in her conviction and execution.
(Character synopsis courtesy of the Arts Club)
REVIEWS
“The dead speak. A man climbs a ladder to heaven. Angels have sex with humans. Surreal, miraculous events punctuate Angels in America: Perestroika, part two of Tony Kushner’s epic comic drama about love, politics and AIDS in 1980s New York… plays as ambitious, complex, smart, stirring and entertaining as this are so rare. You won’t want to miss a moment or a miracle.” –Vancouver Sun
“Perestroika is tight. It may seem strange to say about a nearly four-hour play, but the show’s rampant theatricality rarely flags, nor does it come across as a marathon for the stellar cast or, more importantly, the audience… The acting on display is spectacular.” –The Georgia Straight
“For a “serious” Broadway play, Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika is very, very funny, with a strand of dark humour that becomes at times full-bodied comedy… The entire play works to convince us that that forward motion, however painful or alarming, is the only option people have to survive. Life persists and moves forward despite impossible, even unbearable conditions.” –Vancouverscape
“with its clarity of vision and story, coupled with an outstanding ensemble and creative team, Angels in America Part Two: Perestroika may very well be the best thing you will see on stage this year.” –Vancouver Presents
SUPPORT MATERIALS
Angels part 1 Synopsis (Word doc)
Angels part 2 Synopsis (Word doc)
Video highlights from Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=104&v=hDJHQp2sBAY
