Reviewed by James Marland

It is always a risky business to attend a play that you have spent a number of years researching and analysing. Will the production live up to those expectations formed over hours of contemplation over the text? Can the director deliver a competent and astute re-telling of a narrative so familiar? It was with trepidation that I attended the performance of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (Part One: Millennium Approaches) at the New Theatre in Newtown, and I am delighted to report that none of my concerns were founded. From the moment the production began I knew we were in competent hands: Alex Galeazzi has directed an impressive adaptation of Kushner’s extraordinarily complex text.

Subtitled A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (Part One: Millennium Approaches) is a complex and polemic interweaving of philosophy, theology, sexuality, nationalism, and apocalypticism - set during the escalating AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s. Kushner’s text explores the tropes of progress and motion, intimating that society is either being drawn towards some divinely-charged golden age of liberal-pluralism, or, alternatively, that it is spiraling downwards towards right-wing nationalistic immorality and eco-catastrophe. Amongst the fictional characters, Kushner has notably placed the historical figure of Roy Cohen, admirable played by Laurence Coy. Cohen, an unconscionable Reaganite lawyer whose championing of right-wing politics and litigious immorality is emphatically condemned by Kushner. Cohen, a socially closeted gay man dying from AIDS, becomes Kushner’s figure through which he investigates notions of sexuality and gender, central to the play’s concerns.

This stunning production with its minimalist set and technical constraints is a testament to those smaller theatres that surprise us with such sophisticated ingenuity. The set was cleverly designed to ensure ultimate versatility. A large silver tree constructed with images of sensually intertwined human bodies extended up the trunk to where branch-like arms and angel wings reached heavenward. One of these branching arms extended out from the top of the tree and over the entire length of the stage dangling a large scrim that completely covered the prompt side of the performance space. Action occurred from both behind and in front of this scrim, on which Brechtian-like images and political messages were often projected. This multi-media device was expertly employed in order to navigate around the technical limitations of the space and ensure ultimate flexibility for the multiplicitious scenes required in Kushner’s text.

The play opened with the projection of stirring historical images depicting the history of H.I.V. AIDS in backward progression, from the year 2008 ending with the early 1980s. The play itself is set in the years 1985-6 and this emotive recounting of AIDS history immediately establishes the historical context in which Kushner’s characters find themselves. The seamless scene changes, completed in full view of the audience and involving both members of the cast and crew, were carried off exactly as Kushner envisaged. The cast must all be commended for their professional and polished performances and it is impossible to commend one actor above any of the others. At the outset some of the acting was a little wooden, but over the course of the drama, relationships between characters developed believably. I have no doubt that by the end of the season these slightly bumpy moments will be completely ironed out. In fact any minor stumbles certainly did not detract from the professional and proficient character depictions and stage action.

Many of the actors had to play multiple roles, which is often a recipe for disaster. However, the skill with which these diverse characters were depicted is evidence of a well-rehearsed, expertly directed, competent company. Although all these theatrical moments were well handled, I must note the brief but highly memorable depiction of Woman in the Bronx by Jane Phegan. There were many outstanding moments throughout this production and the enthusiastic reaction of the audience confirms this production’s success.

It is a shame that the company choose to produce only the first play, but I understand the technical difficulties associated with the performance of Part Two. However, the New Theatre is offering us a staged reading of Part Two on Tuesday 20th May as an alternative. Perhaps, with the success of this production, we may find the company willing to develop the second part into a fully realised production. Like the character Harper, we find ourselves “Longing for what we’ve left behind, and dreaming ahead.”

Angels in America (Part One: Millennium Approaches)
Tony Kushner
Director: Alex Galeazzi
New Theatre, Sydney
24 April - 24 May 2008