Angels in America is a long play by the American dramatist Tony Kushner. The seven-hour work is divided into two parts, Part One: Millennium Approaches (1991) and Part Two: Perestroika (1992). Part One won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Kushner said he wanted Angels in America to create a portrait of what it meant to be gay during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980’s. The play also satirizes the American political scene of the time. Angels in America blends fictional characters with real people and varies imaginatively between realism and fantasy. Critics praised Kushner for the eloquence and humor of his writing.
The play includes dozens of characters, all intended to be performed by eight actors. The central figures include Louis and Prior, two gay men; Joe and Harper, a husband and wife; and a lawyer based on the real-life attorney Roy Cohn.
Kushner had been a little-known writer until Angels in America created a sensation when it opened in New York City. The creativity and daring of the play immediately elevated Kushner into the front rank of young American dramatists. Kushner also adapted his play into a two-part, six-hour drama that was televised in December 2003 on the HBO cable television network. The adaptation was directed by Mike Nichols and featured Al Pacino, Mary-Louise Parker, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, and Jeffrey Wright.
See also Kushner, Tony.
