Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika

by Tony Kushner

Book Overview

The second half of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic Angels in America, Perestroika steers the characters introduced in Millennium Approaches from the opportunistic eighties to a new sense of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559360739
• Release Date: November 1993
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.4" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Pushed me out of my comfort zone

I think this might have been the first piece of gay literature that I've ever read. Or at least it's the longest. It's definitely written by a gay guy. It has more characters than any other non-musical play that I've ever read. It was dizzying, and was similar to how I imagine a drag show like Le Cage would go. It had Mormons in it, but it wasn't about Mormons. I think that only three things have ever done that before that have portrayed Mormons accurately. It was hard to read and at the same time was very, very interesting. So, five stars for pushing me outside of my comfort zone.

Strange bedfellows

If you haven't yet read it, please read the prequel to this play, `Angels in America, Pt. 1: Millennium Approaches' prior to this one. The staging is a bit different, similar in style (rapid scene changes, minimalist set, etc.) but it starts out with the wreckage from the Angel's entry in the previous play.Kushner described this play as a comedy, but I cannot see it that way. Except for irony and dark humour (perhaps akin to the idea of the Human Comedy, in which nothing is really funny) almost ever movement in the play is serious. And yet, in the face of death, what can be serious?Roy Cohn is on his deathbed in the hospital, and receives prayers and rebuke from Ethel Rosenberg. Harper is gloriously insane in many ways with a Valium addiction, having lost Joe to a male lover. Harper lives with Hannah, Joe's mother now ensconced in New York City.Louis and Prior struggle to come to terms, although Prior knows that Louis has met up with Joe. Cohn learns of Joe's marriage break-up and the cause, and throws a fit.Oh yes, did I fail to mention the drag-queen-turned-nurse named Belize (a stage name) who attends both Cohn in the hospital and Prior at home? There are extended scenes of Prior and the Angel, exchanging information, stories, prophecies. Back in the days when the supply of AZT was almost non-existent, Cohn manages to get some via his connexions, and Belize manages to get some away from him for Prior. Later, after Cohn dies, he steals the rest of the supply, but not before calling Louis in to recite the Kaddish in thanks for the `gift'. Of course, Louis doesn't want to.`I'm not saying any ... Kaddish for him. The drugs OK, sure, fine, but no... way am I praying for him. My New Deal Pinko Parents in Schenectady would never forgive me, they're already so disappointed, "He's a f*g. He's an office temp. And now look, he's saying Kaddish for Roy Cohn".'In the end, there is death, and there is life, and even the high angels cannot stop the progress, for they don't know how. But, like most mythologies, there is a hope that survives. `This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all, and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come.'Kushner's plays are remarkable statements of the culture of the times, in the 1980s and 1990s, with the growth of the AIDS crisis and the unveiling of diversity in all its suffering during arguably the most inopportune political time it could have been occurring, the Reagan/Bush era. The characterisations are astonishing, as is the dialogue, and despite the drawbacks of play-form to more conventional narrative, this play yields fascinating results, not the least of which because it permits the reader to construct new meanings in conjunction with the play.***Kushner's prophetic call for a new world has not been fully answered, and perhaps never can be ful

A Landmark play for the 90's

If one had to choose the ten best or most influnetial plays of the 1990's, Tony Kishner's Angels In America: The Milleniun Approaches and Perestroika would be on the list. The first one was comedic and tragic, with a brilliant conclusion. One would think it would be a difficult follow-up. Well, the second is actually better than the first. The characters are developed further, and the crisis continues. This play is more symbolic and expressionistic than the first, but that is the key to it's success. At once heart-breaking and funny, compassionate and humorous, this play strikes a chord, and is worthy of the praise it has received.

Angels in America is one of the most realistic books written

As soon as I began to read Kushner's Angels in America, I didn't like it. After reading the first Act and Scene, I thought the play was boring. I was wrong. After reading Scene two my mind was changed. I couldn't put the book down. Kushner's set of charachters are diverse and represent the American population well. His play begins in the 80's and ends in the early 90's, hence he covers the way society was and still is. His charachters are real. They're all unique, however some possess similar sicknesses, emotional needs, etc. Prior is a homosexual male who has been infected with the AIDS virus. He is very dependent on people. His lover, Louis, is his security. Early in the play Prior becomes very sick. Louis can't handle this and leaves Prior. The security is broken. Harper is a heterosexual female who is addicted to valiums. Her husband, Joe, says and believes he is homosexual. I think he is bisexual. He longs to and does love another man, however he decides Harper is his "heart" at the end. Roy and Belize are also homosexual males, but they are not in love with one another. Roy is a rich man dying of AIDS. Belize is a former drag queen who became a nurse. They both hate Roy. This play is very descriptive and I think this helps the readers relate to the charachters. When AIDS was first discovered, people were afraid of those who had the disease. This play enables people to realize that people with AIDS are human beings with feelings. This play was realistic and well written. Kushner deserves a lot of credit for exposing his charachters to the world. "Angels in America" is one of the most touching and expiring books I've ever read.

One of the most influential plays of the century

Angels, Part II is probably one of the most influential plays I have read. Tony Kushner's writing style and character development are phenomenal. His take on the homosexual community in the 1980's was not only accurate and applicable then, but is still applicable today. Kushner's in your face style is a fantastic way to make a comment on society.