latimes.com: Queen Elizabeth called 1992 her annus horribilis. Bill Clinton defeated President George H.W. Bush and ended the Reagan era. Pope John Paul II lifted the Edict of Inquisition against Galileo, and the Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-American team to win the World Series. In April, a Simi Valley jury found four LAPD officers not guilty in the beating of Rodney King and Los Angeles exploded. In August, Pat Buchanan rocked the Republican convention with his infamous "God's country" speech ("better in the original German," observed columnist Molly Ivins).
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As I sat in tech rehearsal for "Angels in America" this week, it was hard for me to remember that this scare happened twenty years ago, before I was even born. Sitting there, watching the show that hadn't even opened yet, I was already transported to the era of the AIDs epidemic - I felt the physical pain of the disease and the mental suffering of the decisions that had to be made because people were afraid to be who they were, simply because someone else said it wasn't right. This play was all the more resonant with me because I had the great fortune of seeing part of the AIDs quilt in DC this summer, and that experience alone brought me to tears. As I watched "Angels," images of different quilt patches kept flashing through my mind: pictures, love letters, little pieces of clothing. It was so vivid and so real - this play is truly a masterpiece.
I think one of the most powerful things about Angels in America, is that the theme of the play had it's peak of relevancy 20 years ago, such a weird length of time. It's old enough to be put into history and to look with hindsight and see what the impact of the play was. Here we see that not only did it affect the people who saw it, but it "changed the national conversation". As one of the quotes said, it brought "gayness" to the front, AIDS couldn't be discussed without bringing up gay issues. America has this thing where it likes to avoid topics in an effort to avoid conflict, but problems don't ever really get solved. This play said "You can't ignore this any longer. This is an issue." That's a big deal to bring a practically taboo subject not just into the nation's peripheral view, but instead crossing front and center. The other reason this 20 year mark seems so weird, is that while it's history and hindsight and significance all rolled into one, it's also something that a majority of the population can remember. There isn't any guessing as to what the impact was, most people 35/40 years or older (especially in the theatre community) have some reason or another as to why this play is significant to them. Unlike when a teacher says "Shakespeare was relevant because...." the teacher says "I remember it was relevant because...." which adds a whole new level onto how it's performed now. This play not only has a historical significance, but a personal significance to many people in America, and it's not often that a play can be both.
The scope of Angels in America alone makes it an impressive show, adding to its overall impact. The play is not just about gays, or AIDS, or Mormons, or the lingering guilt of the Red Scare. It is the story of an entire era’s fear and uncertainty about the future. The play’s scope made it directly applicable to the lives of many who saw it, while drawing in those who had managed to distance themselves from the problems of the age. Angels is just as resonant today as it was twenty years ago, particularly to younger generations born soon after the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic but still relatively untouched by it. As Kelly points out, the era of the AIDS epidemic is still close enough that most people alive today still remember it. The problem is no one wants to talk about it. Showing Angels in America is just as important today as it was twenty years ago because it shows a generation distanced from the AIDS epidemic the fear and uncertainty of the time, while starting a conversation in which others can share their personal experiences. I really enjoyed this article because it provides a perspective from which to view Angels in America that heightens the play’s meaning and importance.
Reading this has only made us more excited for our production of Angels in America. I have read the play before but I have never seen it preformed and I am excited to see how the meaning changes when it is on stage. I agree that it is sometimes hard to remember that it was not so long ago that this was taking place. I was born in 1992. This happened during my lifetime. Granted I was very small but I was still alive and that is weird for me to think about.
I have always loved the play Angels in America and am a true beliver that the show still holds great significance to the generations today. I have friends who have lost friends and loved ones from AIDS and the fact that there was a shiow to give a voice to such a cause was crucial in the 90s when so many where effected. Truth be told this was not all that long ago. I am glad we are putting on this production at CMU.
After reading this, I have become even more excited for the opening of this show! I cannot wait to see how the Cmu actors do portraying the characters of this iconic play. I am so glad that Cmu is putting this production on. I think one of the most beautiful things about this show is that its topic and message is still important today. Although the epidemic may not be as prevalent today, this play still speaks wonders. I am truly more than excited to see how the audience reacts to the performance and how the actors portray this piece onstage!
My favorite line in this article was when the author said that theatre makes the specific universal. Nothing exemplifies this more than Angels in America, which is why I am looking forward to seeing our production so much. The fact that this play has become a part of the American psyche, even for people who don't know theatre at all, says a lot about how the arts can still have power and relevance.
I think that doing this show at CMU can have an enormous impact on everyone involved, especially since so often we are so engrossed in our own minute life details. We don't often think about how what we do can affect people and how it has affected people.
I feel that my age will prevent me from ever truly understanding the impact of this show. I know Aids is terrible but I can't remember it every actually being a part of my life, in the same way that I can't remember a time when our country wasn't at war. I'm excited to see the show but I'm sure that it's impact on people from my generation will be quite different then the generation who originally saw the show. Thats not to say gay rights isn't an issue nowadays, but people seem much more open to talk about it then they used too. That aside, watching Angles should be quite interesting, as an attempt to understand the aids epidemic through the theatrical perspective.
I am even more intruiged to see this play. Knowing abosultely nothing about the play in August it has been a interesting experience to slowly learn more and more. At first this play was the one with the MASSIVE walls that moved and feel. Then those walls kept changing and then we dropped one. Next we built six of them and made them more. That is all I knew. Then I slowly gleaned different peices of conversations and peices of information. The information has just kept building.
Then this article. Talking like it is one of the greatest pieces of American Theatre. I am not saying that lightly. I am serious. I will take it more serious when I see our production in the next week or so. HIV and AIDS is a large struggle for the world currently and will be for some time in the future. This article just has raised my intrigue greatly to witness this event.
Stories like this remind me how powerful theater can be and how effective it is in communicating important messages. While the AIDS epidemic has calmed down in the past 20 years, the play's message is still extremely relevant to today's audiences and will surely hit home for audience members who lived through the 80's and 90's when the disease was much more rampant. I'm too young to really remember what the sociopolitical climate was like in regards to HIV/AIDS and the gay community, but I really cant wait to be taken into that world when we open our show.
I especially love that the beginning of this article recounts all of what was happening around the time of the aids epidemic. I think we sometimes forget that even though the epidemic largely effected America, there were still things that other people were concerned about in other parts of the world. I think knowing what was going on alongside the epidemic gives it a solid place in history - it did happen and it was a big deal, not to be overlooked but placed with the other events in its time. It's odd really, I think of the 1990's as being a recent time, because I lived through most of it. But as time goes on I am starting to see that that time in history will soon have a place just like all the eras and this play is certainly a testament to the memory of that time.
I have never seen or read this play. and even though i really wanted to read the play after reading this article i resisted and decided to wait for opening night of the show here at cmu. I want to experience the play as much as i can like one of those audience members not so many years ago.
"'Angels in America' tied it into the huge arc of the American story; the gay community was no longer an isolated group"
I feel that this play had a larger impact than i can imagine. where a play can change how america views the gay community. how the gay community can go from being talked about in hushed conversations to an epic performance which spurs conversation on the topic. How it not only puts gays front and center but the struggles that they were dealing with at the time and still are now. Then from what i can gather Kushner took this isolated group and then mixed it with with other isolated group like religion. This makes it a bigger thing because being gay doesn't define a person. Many different things define a person so that fact that Kushner mixed different isolated groups seems like the perfect way to introduce a group that previously wasnt talked about.
"Good theater deals in specifics that resonate with many, and it's difficult to think of another play that told a story with such painful specificity and vast resonance."
This line makes me want to see this play even more than i previously wanted to. Something thats far away but that i can relate to deeply. Sounds like an amazing experience.
"I asked Alan what it was about," he says now. "And he said, 'everything.'"
In a world where we have shows and entertainment thats about nothing its nice to know that we can also accomplish shows that feel like they are about everything. When someone describes something as so encompassing that it explores everything that is something worth watch something worth looking into because its easy to make a show about one thing but a show that can encompasses everything about life or can seemingly cover all the important issues of the day is worth something.
And it was about the AIDS experience, which was enormous and enormously scary — like a biblical plague
But this show although about everything was also about something very specific Aids. And more basic, it was about fear, death, pain. Aids is our version of a biblical plague. its huge and scary and people didnt know how it was transmitted for what probably seemed like the longest time. At a time people actually believed it could be transferred through the air. It was so big so new so deadly that for it to be kept an unspoken truth wouldve been a crime.
i think thats it for my rant.
At first I thought this was going to be just another "Angels in America is the most important play of the past 50 years" article. Which I already knew. But I liked the way the author approached the topic. It's been 20 years since the play first opened at Mark Taper, and through working on the play here at school, we're finding it as relevant as ever. One of the things the article brings up is that because AIDS became such a big deal in the 1980s, it made homosexuality in America impossible to not discuss. Like Prior says at the end of Perestroika, "This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all, and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come." Then he ends Part 2 the same way the angel ends Part 1: "The great work begins." And it is still in progress. AIDS still exists. The gay community is still fighting for recognition, acceptance, and equality. And Angels in America continues to be performed.
"Bye now. You are fabulous creatures, each and every one. And I bless you: More Life. The Great Work Begins."
Working on Angels in American at CMU has been a dream. Before starting tech, I had no idea what the play was truly about. The article is spot on when talking about how the play embraces the views of religion, politics, and social issues during the time period. I think this play not only states the severity of the the AIDS epidemic, but it also examines how people reacted to the epidemic. We see Prior who reacts badly to his AIDS, where he becomes obsessed with the fact that he will die. Then we have Roy Cohn, who still believes himself to be immortal. It kind of makes the audience think, how should one act when confronted with death. Do we obsess over it, do we completely ignore it, or do we just live on?
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