Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a set of two paired plays by Tony Kushner (1956-)[1].

Simply billed as Angels in America in some cases.

The original text

The work offers a complex metaphorical look at AIDS and homosexuality in the United States during the 1980s, and consists of two linked full-length plays, individually titled Part One: Millennium Approaches (or Part 1: Millenium Approaches) and Part Two: Perestroika (or Part 2: Perestroika). The two parts of the play may be presented separately, or they can be done as a single performance.

Part one of the play was first performed by the Eureka Theatre Company of San Francisco in May 1991 and part two was performed in November 1992 at the Mark Taper Forum. The entire two-part play had its Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre in 1993.

The work received a large number of awards at its appearance, among them the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.

The original text

Part 1: Millennium Approaches was first produced in Los Angeles in 1992.

Performance history in South Africa

1994: Part 1: Millenium Approaches had its first South African production in 1994, directed by Fred Abrahamse for PACT Drama and starring Sean Taylor as "Roy M. Cohn", Nicky Rebelo, Jennifer Steyn, David Butler, Robert Colman, Jacqui Singer, Sechaba Morojele, Rosalind Butler and Dale Cutts. Designer James MacNamara, lighting designer Stan Knight. Performed at the Momentum Theatre in Pretoria and the Alexander Theatre in Johannesburg.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner

PACT Angels in America theatre programme, 1994.

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