Rating: 
Summary: It leaves you wanting more life.
Review: "Angels In America" offers us new insight on self-discovery. Throughout the play, characters talk of "Threshold of revelation." While reading this, you ask yourself, "What is this revelation they always speak of?" Tony Kushner magnificently magnificently answers this question thorough his troubled characters. Prior fights with his disease, Joe wrestles with his identity, Louis challenges his ability to love, and Harper tests her sanity. Each character is able to learn and reveal something about themselves as a result of their individual struggles. It is these revelations that set them free. It is because of each character's story that "Angles in America" touches every person that reads it. We can relate to trying to overcome obstacles that have been thrown in our way. Through their remarkable stories, we learn about true love, accepting who we are, and making sure to live life to the fullest no matter what blockades life may throw in your way. This dramatic play discusses serious issues such as AIDS and religion, but it never loses its humor in the process. Overall, "Angels In America" is an inspirational play that shows us how difficult life can be, but that should not keep us from wanting more life. Kushner's characters learn life's terrible lessons, but manage to handle them in an extraordinary way. By the end of the play, we catch ourselves saying, "I want more life" just as Prior does.
Rating: 
Summary: "Angels In America" entails a realistic account of life
Review: "Angels In America" is a piece of literature like none I have read before. Its content was quite a surprise to me and I do need to say that there were many parts that were very inappropriate and not needed in order to get the author's points across. Besides the sexual content, the rest was of great importance in the author's explanantion of life and life in America at that. I do think the way that Tony Kushner arranged this play was incredible and it is a great literary piece for the issues that it touches on. Tony Kushner explores many issues that were slowly emerging but trying to be kept submerged in the mid to late 80's. The conflicts within the play were based on the dreams and nightmares of sexuality, religion and politics. Exploration into the deepest realms of sexual preference and trying to escape from the prejudices of society was a lot of what Kushner was trying to make evident to his audience. Kushner focuses mostly on the emphasis of freedom as a dream in America but it becoming a nightmare because of the choices made in life such as sexual preference and what to make of religion. He focuses on nightmares that come from the dream of freedom and the inability to escape. I envision a maze with no end - people walking around aimlessly with no end to their pain and suffering in sight. I really like how Tony Kushner throughout this play makes it very realistic through the conflicts the characters encounter. I enjoy how he discusses openly the "abnormal" society as oppossed to the hum drum everyday life of normal plain characters. The characters he creates makes his audience aware of the struggles that everybody faces through life, and the life-defining questions that everybody asks. He used characters that were lost and did not know what they should be doing with their lives. Kushner makes it apparent that life is the time where we search for the answers and we encounter may conflicts during our search which diverts our attention or helps us along the way. I do not believe that this play was used to make people aware of conflicts of the homosexual life, but of the conflicts and confusion that everybody will encounter in their lifetime; whether it be because of their sexual preference, political stance, religious decisions or sanity. Maybe the distasteful scenes in this play help portray the struggle of life, but I still really do not know what to make of them.
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Summary: "Angels in America" is the most important play i've read
Review: "angels in america" is the most important play i've ever read. it litterally changed my life forever. it should be required reading for every american citizen. no other play so accuratly reflects our times, our culture, our future and our past
Rating:
Summary: Undeniably the greatest piece of American Literature . . .
Review: "Angels in America" is truly one of those rare, astronomical events that defies simple description. I certainly couldn't put under 1000 words what I think about this play. This semester for Dramaturgy Class, I wrote a Research report on "Angels in America" discussing everything from Roy Cohn (both a villian and a piteous figure)to It was 75 pages long, double-spaced. I'm not kidding. You could, and can, spend years trying to understand all the layers of this play, discovering something new every time you open the pages. "Angels in America" is something can cannot be prepared for. You can't say to yourself "I'm going to be reading about gay people" or "I'm going to be reading a comedy about A.I.D.S", or anything else, because "Angels in America" simply is too complex, steeped in metaphor and language to really prepare yourself for. I had tried to, and I was shocked at was I was reading, and it's most likely that at least one aspect of this play will make you cringe in some way or another, no matter who you are, but that's part of the plays power. Just sit back in a comfortable chair, get relaxed, and open your mind. You won't regret it, and the power that Kushner evokes will both enable and enlighten you.
Rating:
Summary: It leaves you wanting more life.
Review: "Angels In America" offers us new insight on self-discovery. Throughout the play, characters talk of "Threshold of revelation." While reading this, you ask yourself, "What is this revelation they always speak of?" Tony Kushner magnificently magnificently answers this question thorough his troubled characters. Prior fights with his disease, Joe wrestles with his identity, Louis challenges his ability to love, and Harper tests her sanity. Each character is able to learn and reveal something about themselves as a result of their individual struggles. It is these revelations that set them free. It is because of each character's story that "Angles in America" touches every person that reads it. We can relate to trying to overcome obstacles that have been thrown in our way. Through their remarkable stories, we learn about true love, accepting who we are, and making sure to live life to the fullest no matter what blockades life may throw in your way. This dramatic play discusses serious issues such as AIDS and religion, but it never loses its humor in the process. Overall, "Angels In America" is an inspirational play that shows us how difficult life can be, but that should not keep us from wanting more life. Kushner's characters learn life's terrible lessons, but manage to handle them in an extraordinary way. By the end of the play, we catch ourselves saying, "I want more life" just as Prior does.
Rating:
Summary: Deeply Flawed But Nonetheless Brilliant
Review: A playscript is a blueprint for a performance--a document that is intended to be interpreted by those trained in theatre arts. For this reason most non-theatre people find reading a play akin to a tour of purgatory: it is often extremely difficult for the layman to imagine how these strings of words on a page will actually play on a stage before a live audience. This is particularly true of Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA, a play which even many theatre arts people (myself included) find very, very flat on the page; consequently, I do not really recommend it for those without a background in theatre arts.
Set in 1980s New York and subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," the play concerns a group of largely homosexual men who find themselves caught up in series of disasters that range from love to religion and from politics to philosophy--and most specifically caught between the rising tide of AIDS and a generally unsympathetic society. In the midst of this, AIDS patient Pior Walter begins to have a series of visions, which may be fever dreams, medicine-induced hallucinations... or, most unnerving of all, real. His long dead ancestors rise to speak to him, the floor cracks open to reveal a burning book--and at the conclusion of the play's first half a beautiful woman with majestic wings crashes through his roof. She is the Angel of America. He is, she tells him, a prophet, and she has come to bring him a message for mankind.
Intertwined with Prior's other-earthly experiences are oddly parallel lives. Joe and Harper Pitt are a deeply dysfunctional couple doubting their faith in the Mormon Church, Joe a closeted homosexual, Harper a valium-addicted and mildly psychotic woman given to visions as strange as those of Prior Walter's. And as further counterpoint historical figure Roy Cohn (1927-1986), among the most sinister figures of 20th Century America, finds himself taunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he drifts toward his own AIDS-induced death. The characters swirl in and out of each other's lives and dreams, playing to stereotypes and yet defying them, arguing politics and philosophy and love and death--and it is fascinating stuff. And the play, which ran six hours and had to be performed across two consecutive evenings, astounded theatregoers: nothing similar had been seen on Broadway since the days of Eugene O'Neill's MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA.
But for all of this remarkable vortex of dreams and realities, issues and ideas, there is a tremendous problem with ANGELS IN AMERICA, and even the most casual reader should be able to spot it. When an angel crashes through the roof you naturally expect startling revelations to follow--but having spent the first half of his play building to this amazing climax, Kushner seems to have painted himself into a dramatic corner. The ideas, issues, and characters continue to swirl as brilliantly as before, but the angelic revelations and their gradual unraveling seem to be born more of desperation than of true originality.
Is ANGELS IN AMERICA a play that will resonate through time? It is possible, but I think it unlikely. To return to MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA, that play is very much of its era in terms of style--but it deals with themes and ideas that are of all times and places, and in consequence it remains as powerful today as it was when it startled Broadway some seventy years ago. But ANGELS IN AMERICA is not only stylistically of its place and time, it is also a play that deals specifically with issues peculiar to its place and time, and as our thinking about these issues change the play's authority begins to fade. While it remains required reading (and ideally required viewing) for any one who is seriously interested in theatre, it seems unlikely that it will forever maintain that status.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: I was caught off guard, but enlightened
Review: After reading Kushner's two-part play-write I was caught off guard by his use of drama and comedy with such a diverse group of people. He combines homosexual relationships with valium addicted Mormons with angelic visitations, and comes out with a masterpiece. Kushner holds nothing back when discussing some of societies' most important issues. At a time when AIDS, homosexuality, and drug addicts were on the rise Kushner brings these issues up close and personal through the character's lives. I was enlightened by Kushner's on point illustration of American society. This is a wake up call for all of those that think these issues do not exist. Kushner dug deep into some tragedies that can come out of these situations as well. You could almost feel the emotion of the dying AIDS victims and the lonely couple looking for love that is not there. I highly recommend this two-part masterpiece. I have not seen the on stage performance but from what I have read it is brilliant. Kushner put enough detail in the book to put you right there in the story. I cannot even imagine how wonderful the on stage performance must be. This is a work of art that I will never forget.
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Summary: I thought it was great! A true journey into the soul of amer
Review: After reading Tony Kushner's "Angels In America" I was thoroughly confused. I thought I had a fair grasp on the basic idea and message of the play, that being that we are all equal and we all struggle and persevere even though we may have differences. But I felt incredibly disorientated after I finished reading the plays. I couldn't put my finger on it but I knew that I had missed something, I felt that there were several underlying messages that Kushner had meant to express upon the reader, which I had missed. I believe part of the reason for that was the way Kushner dealt with the main themes (exploring one's self, coming to terms with who we all are, accepting people for who they are unconditionally). He was so passionate and vivid in dealing with these themes that when he would touch on other themes (such as politics or theories about the creative mind) that I felt I almost didn't have enough in me to deal with those topics as well. While it is true that I feel I could gain very much insight on these plays by reading them a few more times, I did feel very touched by them nevertheless. Throughout the plays as the characters were being developed, I thought Kushner did an incredible job of making the reader feel like part of the story. The effect of bringing the reader into the story more by relating the story to their own lives is not a new practice, but I think Kushner did a great job of doing just that. I was very impressed at how well he related the characters in the plays to fairly universal human issues. I was especially impressed considering that the group he was drawing the issues from was a minority (homosexuals) and yet still managed to make valid connections between that group and the rest of humanity. I think that was a very important piece of the puzzle for Kushner in making "Angels In America " a successful work. He seemed to be trying very hard to show that homosexuals are human to and that no matter what your sexual preference, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or ethnic background you come from we are all connected and all one. I personally thought Kushner did a great job of expressing those feelings. Overall, although a little confused, I thought these plays were absolutely wonderful. I would recommend "Angels In America" to anyone interested in a good look into the struggles and trials of humanity and how through these struggles we can find out the most amazing things about ourselves and others.
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Summary: Review of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America
Review: After reading Tony Kushner's Angels in America, I was left overwhelmed. Before reading this play I was never forced to think about the issues that he discusses in such a profound way. His play brings into focus the injustice that society inflicts onto not only the gay population but also many other minorities. Through his diverse set of characters a broad spectrum is presented. His play presents the way of thinking that occurred in the 80's and how that has transgressed to society today. Each one of his characters is very realistic, and by all means very individual in that none of them possess the same type of personality and moral beliefs. You have Joe and Harper, both of whom are Mormons and can't even deal with each other let alone with society as a whole. Although they are Mormon's, neither are meant to be and are in denial about their true beliefs. The acts of sinning that they commit are a disgrace to the Mormon's I'm sure. They couldn't be more opposite each other either. But although they each have issues, you can see by the end of the play that they overcome their struggles and attempt to live the American Dream. Prior is also a character that has his weaknesses but when forced to deal with the fact that he has AIDS, he digresses to the mentality of a child, only wanting to be taken care of, leaving him privy to loneliness. His lover, Louis, is a man that pretends he is strong when in reality he is not at all. He knows what love is, but has issues that hold him back from expressing it when those he loves, needs him the most. The character that seemed to be the most in denial was Roy. Roy was not only in denial about his homosexuality but also the fact that he had AIDS. He wanted everyone to believe that he was perfect and that he could handle anything that came his way. When in reality Roy was no stronger than any other character in the play. He had an image to keep and felt he would be looked upon, as less of a creature if anyone knew the truth about him. You can see how he starts as a strong character and tragically falls and becomes a man that is bitter, and ignorant to the world around him. This play is very vivid in its descriptions and although some of the details could have been left to the reader's imagination, I feel overall, the mental pictures that I got from this play was what made it all the more meaningful. To imagine such suffering and struggle is not a hard thing to do, but the discouragement that they must have felt when being diagnosed with AIDS was surely the biggest tragedy. In the 80's AIDS was known as a gay disease and no one wanted to know anything about it because it scared them. As a product of the nineties I feel I can appreciate this play more than say some that are more set into their ways and feel very insecure with the ideals that they possess. I have no doubt that my open mind is what allowed me to feel for these characters and what made me relate to the issues and characters being presented. Kushner deserves a lot of credit for his work of art, his exposure and compassion on topics that are often over looked or are taken too lightly made this a reading pleasure.
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Summary: Synopsis
Review: All in All, Angels in America was really great
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