THE HANGOVER REPORT – Tony Kushner’s magisterial ANGELS IN AMERICA blazes anew, still pulsating with life and urgency

James Garfield and company in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Andrew Garfield and company in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Last night, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America returned to New York in its first Broadway revival, via a transfer of the acclaimed National Theatre production, helmed by Marianne Elliott (the in-demand director responsible for War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, two critical and commercial triumphs on both sides of the pond), from London. To call Kushner’s eight-hour, two-part work – technically comprised of two individual plays, “Millennium Approaches” and “Perestroika” – one of the great pieces of art of the last 50 years would not be an understatement. Certainly in the world of theater, its epic scope, audacity, and urgency remain unique and a thing to relish when the opportunity comes along to see it performed. Indeed, Angels in America, despite a terrific HBO adaptation for television, only truly comes alive on the stage. And unfortunately, Kushner’s play, which tells the simultaneously intimate and cosmic story of a disparate set of men and women caught in the machinations of history and politics (let alone the personal) of AIDS-riddled New York of the eighties and nineties, is still as relevant as ever.

Ms. Elliott’s production is the fifth staging of Angels in America I’ve experienced (not including the dismal, truncated opera adaptation, nor the HBO miniseries), and it may very well be the most theatrically exciting and coherent of the bunch. What’s tremendous about this production is the way both parts serve one grand theatrical conceit, while managing to individually exude their own distinct stylistic flair. To be succinct, Ms. Elliott uses the concept of theater itself to shatter the fourth wall, allowing Kushner’s hard-hitting text to hit us directly in the gut. Although Ms. Elliott’s production is a slow burn (not a criticism, but “Millennium Approaches” takes its time to really start pumping blood and make clear its artistic intentions), her blazing physical production matches Kushner’s penetrating dialogue and intoxicating flights of fancy with intense focus and inventiveness, creating a brash, immersive tapestry that’s at once grim – apocalyptic, even – yet one which drips with raw, pulsating life force.

The cast at the Neil Simon may very well be one of the finest ensembles I’ve seen in my recent theatergoing. Nathan Lane makes for a deliciously fiendish Roy Cohn, at once seductive and repulsive. It took me all of “Millennium Approaches” to warm up to Andrew Garfield’s affected, heightened interpretation of Prior, but once I bought into his performance (he basically carries the weighty “Perestroika” on his seemingly slight shoulders, heroically), I fell hard for it. I feel strongly that it will end up being one of the towering, most important pieces of acting of the season, and one that deserves to be recognized. The terrific Denise Gough, so extraordinary in Duncan MacMillan’s People, Places, and Things, here is just as steely yet fragile as the pill-popping, hallucination-prone Harper. Rounding out the wonderful cast are James McArdle as Louis, Lee Pace as Joe, Susan Brown as Hannah (and various other characters), Amanda Lawrence as the Angel (and others), and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Belize (and others) – each putting their own forceful, fabulous stamp on these iconic characters. This is a landmark revival of an awesome, magisterial play. Let the great work begin once again.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

ANGELS IN AMERICA
Broadway, Play
Neil Simon Theatre
8 hours (two plays, each with two intermissions)
Through July 1

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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