Angels in America: Millennium Approaches -- by Tony Kushner (1993)

Description
There are certain literary works that dumbfound me due to excellence. When I think of works that left me speechless at the sheer genius of the author's pen, I think of the following:

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Sunday in the Park with George by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim

I am adding Angels in America to that list. Tony Kushner's ability to not lose control of the scope of the play while intertwining narratives seamlessly is a true feat. I don't know how some humans can be imaginative and calculating to this height. 

His employment of the word "fantasia" in the subtitle is perfect. What is a "fantasia"? Check out m-w.com's definition. 

In the case of this play, the secondary definitions are both most appropriate: "2a: a work (such as a poem or play) in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted" and "2b: something possessing grotesque, bizarre, or unreal qualities."

Kushner tells the tale of Roy Cohn, a deeply closeted D.C. lawyer; Harper and Joe, a Mormon couple whose relationship falls apart due to the wife's agorophobia and the husband's latent homosexuality; and Prior and Louis, a homosexual couple whose relationship deteriorates as Louis abandons Prior upon Prior's diagnosis of AIDS. Their lives intersect both in reality and in fantasy. The play is a fantasia, and shares aspects of magical realism. The "grotesque, bizarre, or unreal qualities" are developed through the tangible illnesses that are not simply talked about by the characters but realized as characters defecate in their pants, bleed out of their mouths, etc. The unreal qualities can be identified through all of the surreal moments such as Harper enjoying time in Antarctica or the angel speaking directly to Prior after ancestors of Prior speak with him. 

To summarize the play is a challenge. I think I've given you a snapshot. 

The play is returning to Broadway this Spring with Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield at the helm. Watch a trailer here. I predict this will clean up at the Tony Awards this year. 

The play has already been made into a TV mini-series which won several Golden Globes. It included Meryl Streep and Al Pacino. 

Playbill.com summarizes the masterpiece like so: 

"In late 1985 and early 1986, as the first wave of the AIDS epidemic in America is escalating and Ronald Reagan has been elected to a second term in the White House, the play’s two parts bring together a myriad of disparate characters whose lives intersect, intertwine, collide and are blown apart during a time of heartbreak, reaction and transformation. Ranging from earth to heaven, from the political to the intimate to the visionary and supernatural, Angels in America is an epic exploration of love, justice, identity and theology, of the difficulty, terror and necessity of change."   

Candid Reactions

• Kushner is clear that there are to be no blackouts during transitions. I wondered how this would work out in the play, especially when scenes end triumphantly or dramatically. There were only a few scenes that I felt a blackout could be appropriate, but this would undermine the flow and hallucinatory vibe of the show. 
• The eulogy at the start places death at the forefront of the audience's mind. 
• The priest calls a community in New York a "melting pot where nothing melted" (1369). Having visited NYC a few times, I feel I have seen some of these locations. 
• Roy is a force to be reckoned with!
• The language in this show is atrocious. 
• Perhaps the contradictory, head-scratching nature of Roy is introduced most clearly when he states, "I'm not religious but I like God and God likes me" (1370). 
• The parallelism between Scene 2 and Scene 3 of Act 1 is delicious!
• Kushner's lexicon is elite. 
• When Prior calls his first lesion "the wine-dark kiss of the angel of death," there is a whole essay's worth of interpretation made available (1371). 
• Kushner writes, "No wall like the wall of hard scientific fact" (1372). Any person who has ever been diagnosed with a disease, syndrome, illness, knows how daunting that wall can appear. 
• Kushner cleverly slips in remarks on religion throughout the show. 
• Some of the hallucinations in the play remind me of Alice in Wonderland or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 
• I bet this show is a complete feast for the senses. 
• Harper demands, "Tell me without making me ask," when trying to have Joe admit his sexuality (1375). The command is stress-inducing. 
• Louis has an interesting view of justice. 
• Joe compares himself to an empty shell (1376). How sad. 
• Roy's definition of being a homosexual reminds me of James Franco's controversial response when his sexuality was questioned. 
• Prior's fear of abandonment is foreboding. 
• The start of Act Two is terrifying. 
• Kushner intersperses biblical and historical anecdotes in the play. In so doing, Kushner enriches his text. 
• The ability for Kushner to create scenes that have two stories going on simultaneously in different locations WITHOUT creating mass confusion is simply amazing. 
• Why are his stage directions about intercourse so short and vulgar in comparison to the rest of his notes?
• How sad for Roy to believe love and responsibility are traps (1381). 
• Roy's philosophy on law is intriguing. 
• Louis tells Joe, "You're scared. So am I. Everybody is in the land of the free. God help us all" (1385). The intimacy and magnitude of Louis' declarations makes his cry for help even more profound.
• When Joe's mother says that they'll "just forget this phone call" wherein he shares his sexuality, she becomes almost an inverted version of Roy. Earlier, Roy disallows the suggestion that his illness is a result from homosexual behavior. Now, Joe's mother demands that a conversation about sexuality never takes place.
• Act Two Scene Nine provides great debate on love. 
• The final scene of Act Two is the most confusing part of the play to me. 
• All of the hallucinatory visitors reminds me of Hamlet. 
• Louis rants: 
• That's just liberalism, the worst kind of liberalism, really, bourgeois tolerance, that it's not enough to be tolerated because when s*** hits the fan you find out how much tolerance is worth. Nothing . . . Power is the object, not being tolerated. (1388)
• How terrifying for Louis to proclaim, "There are no angels in America, no spiritual past, no racial past, there's only the politics" (1389). I wonder how many people agree with him. 
• The Cain/Judas comparison is appropriate. 
• I don't know what to make of this statement: "Even hallucinations have laws" (1392). 
• Roy's pessimistic outlook is so biting in Act Three Scene Five. 
• Roy argues, "Make the law, or subject to it" (1393). He is creating dichotomies. 
• Wow, Roy's final lines are epic. 
• The dance sequence could probably stop time, if done correctly, in Act Three Scene Six. 
• The technical effects must be stunning, I would imagine, for the final scene to finish the show like a crescendo.     

Top Two Aspects/Reasons for Winning
1. Direct Imaginative Address
The show tackles homosexuality, politics, and religion with blunt conversation and fantastical interchanges. The play's proximity to the AIDS crisis faced in the 1980s intensifies the emotion of the play. Instead of pushing difficult realities into isolation, the play spotlights the psychological and physical realities of those individuals who question their sexuality, who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and caretakers.

2. Fantasia
The genre of the play is unbelievable. I believe I have summed up this point in the description. 

Classroom Implications
There is absolutely no way I would use this text in high school due to its graphic content and language. Maybe an Honors course could handle the content maturely, but it would be a stretch.

Personal Takeaway
God has granted humans with wild imaginations and remarkable talents.

Ranking

	Dialogue	Characters	Plot/Conflict	Symbol/Literary Devices	Overall Enjoyment	TOTAL SCORE 9.0
0	Unfollowable; unrealistic; diction does not match character	Undeveloped; does not reflect humanity	Not engaging; predictable; reader can step away from text because it isn’t gripping	Devices are apparent for cleverness and do not enhance the story	Reader has no interest in re-reading play
1	Not consistently realistic	Well-developed; most depictions reflect humanity	Semi-engaging; some unnecessary plot-points (1.5)	Devices somewhat enhance story	Reader would re-read with pleasure and reminded of work (1.5)
2	Realistic; connotative; diction matches characters (2)	Fully-developed; depictions reflect humanity (2)	Engaging; unique; reader finds it impossible to put down text because the conflict is so gripping!	Devices seamlessly enhance the story and provide rich interpretation (2)	Reader would re-read the play on own volition, enthusiastically