Angels in America: History and Key Facts

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a 1991 two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, are occasionally presented separately. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Part one of the play premiered in 1991, followed by part two in 1992. The full play premiered in 1992 at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. Later that same year it had its UK premiere at the National Theatre in London, while its Broadway opening was in 1993.

In 2017, Angels in America received a much-acclaimed National Theatre revival that won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival. Later that year, the production transferred to Broadway, where it won three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play.

The play is a complex, often metaphorical, and at times symbolic examination of AIDS and homosexuality in the United States in the 1980s. Certain major and minor characters are supernatural beings (angels) or deceased persons (ghosts), some based on historical figures. The play contains multiple roles for several actors. Initially and primarily focusing on one gay and one straight couple in Manhattan, the plot has several additional storylines, some of which intersect occasionally.

Playwright and professor of theater studies John M. Clum called the play "a turning point in the history of gay drama, the history of American drama, and of American literary culture". It is widely regarded as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century and of all time.

Source and attribution

Text excerpted from Angels in America by Wikipedia contributors, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The extract is abridged and formatting has been adjusted; the adapted text on this page is shared under the same licence. Revision history.