Angels In America Flashcards
Director
Tony Kushner
Socio-political context & Playwrights intention
-to look at the moment itself and to emphasise how the past has shaped the present
-invites us to consider what has changed and what has remained the same through the years
-AIDS crisis
-communism
-disparity between the rich and the poor
-time of struggle & despair
-conservative & liberal ideologies violently collided
-a society deeply divided
-prejudice & hope
-theme of justice
-corruption
Gay Liberation Movement
-social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.
HIV & AIDS
-“the gay plague” “gay cancer”
-disease of the immune system
-lethal
-disease associated with gay men
Genre
-postmodernism
-drama, realism & magical realism
-epic theatre
-theatre of the fabulous
Drama, Realism & Magical realism
presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality
EPIC THEATRE (BRECHT)
purpose is not to encourage an audience to suspend their disbelief, but rather to force them to see their world as it is
Theatre of the fabulous
theatre made by queer people for queer people and deconstructs queer identity
Characters
Prior Walter
Louis Ironson
Roy Cohn
Joe Pitt
Harper Pitt
The Angel
Belize
Ethel Rosenborg
Hannah Pitt
Mr Lies
Prior Walter
-diagnosed with AIDS
-Louis leaves him
-challenged by stasis
-visited by the Angel of God, rejects his prophet and demands a blessing of additional life
-manages to transcend victimhood, surviving and becoming the center of a new, utopian community at the end
Louis Ironson
-passionate about democracy and justice but cowardly in the face of illness and death
-he leaves Prior because he cannot handle Prior’s AIDS diagnosis
-follows Jewish neurotic stereotypes
-has an awakening to responsibilities
-‘Kushner’s character’
Roy Cohn
-Jewish and queer
-greedy, manipulative, loud, vulgar and rich
-lives up to many anti-semitic stereotypes
-rejects his own homosexuality because he does not want to ruin his reputation
-claims he has liver cancer
-remains closeted until his death
-famous New York lawyer
-only cares about his popularity
-lack of ethics led him to illegally intervene in the espionage trial of Ethel Rosenborg, which resulted in her execution
-dies from AIDS
Belize
-black registered nurse and ex-drag queen
-Priors best friend
-Roy’s caretaker which he does not like
-ethical
Joe Pitt
-Mormon, Republican lawyer
-leaves his wife Harper for Louis and gets left by Louis in return
-opposite path in the play to Prior
-play finally seems to abandon Joe
Harper Pitt
-Joe’s wife, trapped in a failing marriage
-addicted to valium and invents imaginary characters to escape her troubles
-has a dream encounter with Prior, learns that her husband is gay and begins to take control of her own destiny
-ends the play the farthest from where she began, independent, confident woman in love with life and living in San Francisco
