An exciting, epic production in two parts, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a complex, metaphorical and symbolic examination of sexuality in America in the 1980s by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright Tony Kushner (Munich, Lincoln, Fences, The Fablemans).
The West End revival production won the Olivier Award for Best Revival in 2018, and was screened as part of the National Theatre Live cinematic release. It later transferred to Broadway, where it received eleven Tony Award nominations, the most ever received by a play at the time. It won three: Best Revival of a Play; Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, for Andrew Garfield; and Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, for Nathan Lane.
In Part 1, Millennium Approaches, Prior Walter is HIV positive. His Jewish boyfriend leaves him for a straight Mormon and he gets a hospital visit from an angel who says it is up to him to save humanity.
In Part 2, Perestroika, various forces have gathered in New York: the ex-boyfriend and his Mormon lover, the pill-popping ex-wife, the conservative mother, a rabid Republican lawyer, a drag queen and a dead activist… and Prior has the future of the world in his hands.
Full of humour and hope, these diverse characters captivate audiences in its contemplation of humanity and our progress towards a new millennium. It is spectacular, yet intimate. It is magical, yet grounded in reality.
With Kushner’s erudite writing and some of Adelaide’s most talented performers, Angels in America is a theatre event not to be missed.
Hayley Horton says, “Despite the exploration of humanity and all its flaws, this is a hilarious script. We laugh more than we cry and it is almost cathartic to see the more upsetting parts of our world through a humorous lens. It just showcases Kushner’s skills as a writer to have 3 hours feel like nothing, while laughing at how broken the world really can be. I love the hopefulness of this piece. While many could just watch Part 1 and live with the cliffhanger, it is the resolution of Part 2 that gives us hope – where the good survive to see the new millennium born.”
The cast: Kate Anolak, Lee Cook, Rachel Dalton, Brant Eustice, Matt Houston, Casmira Lorien, Eric McDowell & Lindsay Prodea.
