Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A triumphant landmark of the U.S. theater, August 26, 2001
Tony Kushner's two part epic play "Angels in America" is
truly a landmark of United States literature. The two parts of the
play (subtitled "Millennium Approaches" and
"Perestroika") together represent a passionate and
intelligent exploration of American life during the era of President
Ronald Reagan. Kushner peoples his play with individuals who are for
the most part "marginal" in some way in U.S. culture. His
characters include Mormons, gay men, men with AIDS, Jews, a drug
addict, and an African-American drag queen. These various perspectives
and voices allow Kushner to create some fascinating dialogues about
the "American dream"--and about the nightmares that can go
along with it.
Kushner's cast of characters is excellently drawn, but
perhaps his most astounding creation is influential lawyer Roy Cohn, a
fictionalized version of a real historical figure. A gay Jew who is
himself viciously homophobic, Kushner's Cohn is grotesque, hilarious,
frightening, and seductive all at once. This character allows Kushner
to make fascinating statements about power, politics, and sexual
identity.
Also brilliant is Kushner's use of Mormonism and its
theology as an integral component of the play. Kushner is the first
literary artist I know of who has used Mormon themes and motifs in
such a consistently compelling and intelligent way. Kushner is, in my
opinion, neither a proselytizer for nor a basher of Mormonism, but his
presentation of troubled Mormon characters and his apparent satirizing
of some aspects of Mormon theology both strike me as potentially
controversial. Because Mormonism is a religion founded in the U.S.,
this aspect of Kushner's play accentuates the essential
"American-ness" of the piece.
Kushner achieves a stunning
blend of politically charged realism and fantastic, even playful
mysticism in "Angels." His writing is sharp and cutting at
times, and elsewhere tender and haunting. And the play is often quite
funny. Although the action of the play focuses on the Reagan era,
"Angels" often takes in a much larger sweep of U.S., and
even world, history.
"Angels in America" is a fascinating
meditation on power and its abuse, on disease and healing, on honesty
to oneself and to others, and on pluralism and bigotry. A masterpiece
of 20th century literature, this is a play to be seen. But whether or
not you have seen it, it is also a work to be read and pondered.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar score, January 28, 2004
With ANGELS, Tony Kushner has accomplished what only a rare few Western writers have managed to do. Integrating biblical knowledge, classical history, myth, poetry and a vast understanding of the human heart in all of its best and worst guises, these plays illuminate with the blinding fire of the angel at its core, the great hypocrisies which lay just beneath the surface of our nation. Like Howard Zinn, and to some extent Studs Terkel, Kushner recognizes that we are not one nation under God. Instead, we seem to be a huge, selfish and confused hoarde attepting to move forward in time with primary moral references to the oldest, and in some ways, least applicable documents and sources of wisdom. Whether one believes that God is "dead" or not, I cannot imagine another work of literature which might promote a more useful theological discussion between so-called liberals and conservatives. Add to this the fact that the stories and characterization are gripping, the heroes are truly admirable and the villains reprehensible. Humans change in profound and permanent ways, and amid the pain of our time, there is -- after a reading of these remarkable plays -- still hope. For once in many years, the Pulitzer Prize moved in the right direction. Whether read or viewed on stage or in its most recent iteration as a superb HBO movie, ANGELS is one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Millenium nears; fear surrounding AIDS begins to melt., February 25, 1999
By A Customer
Tony Kushner's epic play "Angels In America" is a phenomenal play because of its reality in today's society. There is no other play that I know of that accurately reflects our times and culture on such a controversial issue. The characters in the play become alive and you find yourself alive in each scene with them. Millenium Approaches and Perestroika tells the story of a few people trying to make sense of a cynical and judgmental world. In these characters' daily lives, Kushner deals with controversial issues such as homosexuality, AIDS, mental illness and the social and political problems they encounter. Beneath all the political and moral (religious) outrage, lurks a desire to understand what it means to live and die of AIDS in a world that is disconcerted about human life. Kushner also opens our eyes to the political leaders of the eighties, mainly Ronald Reagan, and their avoidance in dealing with the issue of AIDS. This is keenly shown in the conversations of the characters throughout the play. The choice of title for both parts of the play remarkably ties it all together. As the millenium approaches we can see society is starting to feel some compassion and hope for those suffering with such misfortunes as AIDS and mental illness which have been shrouded with a stigma. The ice is beginning to melt as society and political leaders can no longer avoid these maladies. The cold war, Perestroika, is finally dropping its curtain.
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