Tony Kushner

a gay fantasia on national themes

Angels in America

Afton Okwu

maitha mana

"There are no gods here, no ghosts and spirits in America, there are no angels in America, no spiritual past, no racial past, there's only the political, and the decoys."

A two part play that centralizes on the AIDS epidemic during the Reagan-age New York; and the stigma revolved around it. It sheds light on politics, religion, and identity, and you can't help but feel for every single case throughout the characters in this book.

rumbledethumps

"It isn't easy. It doesn't count if it's easy. It's the hardest thing, forgiveness. Maybe that's where love and justice finally meet."

These words, spoken by Belize, the moral center of the play, define what the play is about. Forgiveness, of others who have wronged us, and of ourselves when we have wronged others, is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. Husbands and wives, mothers and sons, gods and humans, lovers, friends, political adversaries, every relationship in this play requires forgiveness. 

I didn't particularly like this play, until that line was spoken by Belize in the final act. And then it all made sense, and I realized it might be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Claudia Ganea

So... I have Feelings?

This was school-required, and it was HUGE. At first I didn’t know that I was getting myself into not one, but two full-length plays, so it took me a longer time than usual to finish. Let’s talk about the positives - I really loved the themes that this play approached, from the AIDS crisis to what it essentially means to be human, to even America itself and all the hypocritical issues that still plague it. Which is to say, I get why we’re studying this, and I get why it’s very important. (I also watched the 2018 revival starring Andrew Garfield to make my experience more enjoyable and I LOVED IT)

As for the negatives, I find it hard to find any except that it left me... unsettled?? Even creeped out??? WHICH TO BE FAIR, might have happened because I Am Baby or because the play is inherently very intense but let me tell you it was CREEPY!!!!! I’m still not sure whether that adds to or takes away from my liking of the play. For now, I’m still keeping all the lights on in the house.

Fraser Simons

The latest broadway production of the play is on audible and it’s absolutely fantastic.

Bergen Anders Nelson Eickhoff

If you left me in a locked room with a jug of water and a copy of this play, you could return 5 days later and I'd be re-reading it for the 100th time.

abby donaldson

probably more of a 2.5⭐️ but an interesting and funny read that touches upon important themes such as homosexuality.

Rana Makki

Erin O’Donnell

Cass Fox

Dramatizes the effects of AIDS on the United States through the experiences of lawyer Roy Cohn, a Morman couple, and a young man called Prior Walter

A Gay Fantasia on National Themes

Yuhas

Mat Connor

Nova ♡

Lindy

Martha F.

savannah eden

lucinda ventimiglia

Joshua Line

America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. This edition, published alongside the major revival at the National Theatre in 2017, contains both plays, Part One: Millennium Approaches, and Part Two: Perestroika.

Angels in America a gay fantasia on national themes

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