Angels in America
Venue: Lyric Theatre Hammersmith
Where: Outer London
Date Reviewed: 27 June 2007
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Unsettling, powerful, moving, ambitious and deeply felt. All the qualities of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America remain apparent in director Daniel Kramer’s revival for the partnership of the Lyric Hammersmith, Headlong Theatre company and the Glasgow Citizens. In addition, there is a renewed pang of historical significance in a drama that defines the AIDS age like no other while digging deep into the American national psyche during the Ronald Reagan presidency, “the end of liberalism” and the impending sense of doom and helplessness.

It was in November 1993 that both parts, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, were seen together within a few days of each other at the National and on Broadway. Then, I felt Part Two didn’t quite measure up to Part One. Now, the phantasmagorical intensity of the second part is much more persuasive as the stage is overrun with lamentations, storms, transfigurations and reconciliations.

The two essential “stories” are those of two victims: Prior Walter (Mark Emerson), a witty young man from a very old family, and Roy Cohn (Greg Hicks), a corrupt right-wing lawyer whose mentors were J Edgar Hoover and Senator Joe McCarthy, leader of the red scare “witch hunts” in the 1950s. Both have AIDS, though Cohn calls his “liver cancer.”

The partner of the first, Louis (Adam Levy), starts a friendship with a young bisexual lawyer from Salt Lake City, Joseph Porter Pitt (Jo Stone-Fewings), who has come to New York to work as Cohn’s protégé. Pitt’s wife, Harper (Kirsty Bushell), is a pill-popping fantasist gripped with fears about the ozone layer.

Prior has another friend who died of bird tuberculosis. He sees a missile plummeting to earth: “I’m Ground Zero!” Like so much in the two plays – they run for six and a half hours’ playing time with one long break and three short intervals – this is just weird and uncanny, concrete evidence of Kushner hitting the historical zeitgeist full in the middle.

A surrounding panoply of ghosts and angels – played by the riveting Ann Mitchell, the amazing Golda Roshuevel and the striking newcomer Obi Abili – creates a heady mix of other-worldliness. Kramer and his designers Soutra Gilmour (set) and Charles Balfour (lights) meet the demands head-on with a constant hum of city noises, medical machinery, rumbling premonitions, snatches of Bruce Springsteen and La Cage aux Folles, and a rock concert-style light show that pins the participants in a spiritual and physical void.

Hicks is a reptilian, nasty Roy Cohn, perhaps not Jewish enough, but magnificently unsympathetic even at moments of nemesis, when Mitchell materialises as a clucking Ethel Rosenberg, the Communist spy whom Cohn made a point of consigning to the electric chair. Rosheuvel’s avenging angel instigates the orgasmic earthquake that shakes Prior through to his post-agony dream world of defiant optimism.

Tony Kushner’s great achievement is to weave an epic fabric from such closely told personal stories. In the light of his recent musical with Jeanine Tesori, Caroline, or Change, we can also now see Angels as another exercise in autobiography. Louis is a conduit of Jewish guilt in finding his place in the world and the lives of other people; just one more layer in a work so rich and rewarding, an indisputable milestone and masterpiece in contemporary American theatre.

- Michael Coveney

NOTE: The following FIVE-STAR review dates from an earlier tour stop for this production.

Two three-and-a-half hour plays about the effects of AIDS in New York in the 1980s may seem like a hard sell. But Tony Kushner’s epic tale of death, destruction and the strength of the human spirit is undeniably a modern classic. Headlong Theatre does not disappoint with its gripping production which assaults your senses from every conceivable angle.

Anyone expecting this to look like a museum piece is proved wrong within minutes. The threat of AIDS is not really the main fear of the characters. Reagan’s America and its ability to discriminate against those it deems not part of the “American Dream” is the scariest aspect of this stunning play. And, with today’s McCarthy-style witch hunts, in the name of the war on terror and ever-rising global Aids statistics, Angels feels disturbingly contemporary.

Kushner’s inventive narrative intertwines the lives and loves of each character seamlessly. Dying of AIDS, Prior Walter (Mark Emerson) is plagued not just by the crippling disease but also by the nightmarish visions of an angel (Golda Roshuevel). His boyfriend Louis (Adam Levy) seeks solace in the arms of married Mormon and legal clerk Joseph Porter Pitt (Jo Stone-Fewings). Joseph’s wife Harper (Kirsty Bushell) is a prisoner in her own home, as frightened of being attacked in the big city as he is of his homosexuality. Meanwhile, closeted Machiavellian broker Roy Cohn (Greg Hicks) punishes the gay community for his ‘sins.’

Vital ingredients for an American super soap? Possibly. But, due to the ethereal feel, the fast-moving plot and powerful imagery, this high-class drama is anything but glamorous nonsense - it’s theatre of the highest calibre.

Daniel Kramer’s sensitive handling of Kushner’s drama means that every emotion is tapped into. The play is scary, thrilling, sexy, brimming with energy, and most of all, utterly unforgettable. Soutra Gilmour’s ever-changing black set serves as a great platform for the actors too.

There are no weak links: Hicks is ferocious yet fragile, Emerson conveys humour and fear wonderfully well, and Stone-Fewings’ vulnerability is heartbreaking to behold. Ann Mitchell plays a variety of roles, both men and women and is chameleon-like throughout.

Part One (subtitled Millennium Approaches) works as a stand-alone piece. But I would recommend watching both it and Part Two (Perestroika) in one day. Only then, can you experience the full effect of how life-affirming this highly original revival is. Angels is simply divine; go forth and spread the word.

- Glenn Meads (reviewed at The Lowry, Salford)

Reader Reviews

Score	Comment	Date
	For me, the sense of it being very of its time was too overwhelming. It's a great play, and deserves its accolades but this production didn't cut it. I remember the NT early 90s one zipping along, buzzing with energy and gripping me from early on; this production had none of those attractions. Plus I'm no fan of soul warbling, so presenting some of the Angel's dialogue in that way was grating. I enjoyed Mark Emerson's performance and one or two others but was very disappointed by Greg Hicks, who just didn't convince me as Roy Cohn. His normally clear delivery was thrown off by the (not too great) accent and his physical performance was too like someone in an acting class trying really hard to get top marks. That NT production remains a highlight of my theatregoing experience and I have a lot of affection for this play, but Headlong's production simply didn't engage me, I'm very sorry to say. - Backdrifter	16 Jul 07
	Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’ mixes realism and fantasy in a truly dazzling play which Daniel Kramer transforms into this intense production, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. It is a story of hope, faith and religion, mixed with wit sarcasm and dark humour. The inventive and striking design matched the flawless performances by the actors, especially Kirsty Bushell who was stunning in her performance of the hallucinating pill-popping Harper and Mark Emerson who was simply electric as the AIDS-suffering Walter. Although the performance is a total of 7 hours, and would have been physically demanding for the actors to say the least, the two parts fly by in a rush of artistic brilliance. A dramatic production – definitely not to be missed! - E.	12 Jul 07
	This play is so grounded in its time that it can never have the same impact 20+ years on. Having said that, it stills packs more punch than any play written in recent years and here is given a stunning production by Daniel Cramer with eight impeccable performances. The last part of Millenium Approaches and the second part of Perestroika are particularly good. I saw them separately all those years ago and felt seeing them together on the same day this time was a better experience altogether. This was a milestone in theatre and anyone who seriously loves theatre should see it. But what happened to Tony Kushner in the 20 years between this and Caroline or Change?...........just the mediocre Slavs and Homebody / Kabul it seems; AiA must must have exhausted him. - Gareth James	27 Jun 07
	The best American play of the past 50 years, impeccably performed. A triumph. Contrary to the review below, this play is not simply about AIDS or about gay men--it's a play about the soul of America. - Charles	25 Jun 07
	Sorry to be a wet blanket at this five start fest but doesn't it all go on a bit too much! OK! I am not trying to diminish the tragedy of AIDS or the impact it has had on the lives of friends and relatives of the victims. There are, though, other equally tragic deseases which victims are making there way through, every bloody day, without being made the subject of this obsessive orgy of self indulgence. It may well have had a resonance in 1991 in San Francisco with an audience made up almost entirely of men, sniffling into their red or yellow handkerchiefs. However, fifteen years on it's showing its age, and doesn't sit comfortable with the natural reserve of a British audience. And why does the writer assume the gay community embraces the spurious theory that practically all men are gay? I found three and three quarter hours, of almost unrelenting hysteria, about two hours too long. And for it to have a Part II at a further three and a half hours - God Help Us all! However, even this nonsence could not disguise the talent on stage. Greg Hicks brilliant as ever as the meglomanic, slease ball lawyer. Mark Emerson, like a chubby Andy Warhol ,gives a rivetting performance as the central character, Prior. And Ann Mitchell who convincingly plays a rabbi, a mother, and a deceased spy! head up a talented cast who really should be expending their not inconsiderable talents on something better. - rds	25 Jun 07
	Awe inspiring, Stunning, gob-smacking, massive emotional experience, theatrical event of the year so far. Don't miss it, see both parts. - JoeSmith	06 May 07

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