new production
The Arena stage begins Tony Kushner's two-part saga detailing the early days of the AIDS crisis in this ambitious new in-the-round production of Angels In America Part one: The Millennium Approaches, directed by Hungarian filmmaker Jnos Szsz. One of the most acclaimed works of the late 20th Century and perhaps the most famed piece that puts the AIDs experience at the forefront, Angels in America is a stunning and essential play that touches all those who experience it, regardless of age, background, gender, or sexuality.
With both parts combined clocking in at an epic eight hours, this Pulitzer Prize winner meditates on many themes and intersecting stories. Layered and symbolic, it's as much an examination of the AIDS epidemic as it is a chilling look at living in Regan's America. Love, loss, grief, and loneliness mesh with religious metaphor and perhaps the most complex notion of all, politics.
What is the story?
At its heart Angels in America is about Prior Walter's struggle with AIDs, but it's also the tale of four other people in his life as they navigate the highs and lows of self-realization, from battling with self-hate and closeted homosexuality to finding strength you never thought you had.
As Prior's illness develops he begins to have heavenly visions where angels seek him out as a prophet. Meanwhile, his ex-lover Louis struggles with his guilt over leaving him at his most vulnerable, whilst carrying on a relationship with Joe, a closeted Mormon Republican whose own inner turmoil has made his wife Harper mad.
