Billy Porter, Robin Weigert and Christian Borle star in Tony Kusher's epic play. Photo Credit: Richard Termine.

When you spend seven hours with someone, you feel like you get to know them pretty well, right?  This rings true with the characters of the play Angels in America.  The audience becomes attached to their stories and cares about their troubles;  however, you may not get to hear their entire story on one day.

The Signature Theatre Company’s Angels in America, brilliantly written by Tony Kushner, is split into two parts, each three and a half hours long with two intermissions.  They are performed on different days, switching off every couple of days, so one usually can’t see both parts on the same day.  You may see them a day, a week (like I did), a month or more apart from each other, but the story remains strong during the gap between viewing each part.

“Part 1:  Millennium Approaches” introduces eight interconnected people living in New York City in the mid-1980s.  These characters go through hardships related to their jobs and relationships, while dealing with the AIDS epidemic that affects all of their lives.  This drama is not afraid to discuss issues such as religion, sexuality, race, and politics.  “Part 2: Perestroika” resolves the problems from Part 1, but not in a way that seems unrealistic or corny.  Even though Angels is specifically set 30 years ago during the AIDS crisis, the themes are applicable today:  the play’s focus on a gay couple brings awareness to the current issues of same-sex marriage and gay rights.

Since the Peter Norton Space is a small theater, everyone in the audience was close to the actors.  The cast was also very small, so in addition to each actor having a “main” role, some of them would play multiple other minor characters (one woman even plays an old man).

I was surprised by how well the space on stage was used.  The same set stayed onstage the entire time, but set pieces rotated to become different places.  Also, a curtain could be pulled across the stage, with projections of backgrounds to signal a new atmosphere.  There were also great lighting and sound effects.  During transitions between scenes, loud NYC sounds were blasted and images of buildings and traffic were shone onto walls to replicate the atmosphere just outside the theater.

There were many times, especially in Part 2, when supernatural events, such as angels and imaginary worlds, were not clearly defined, and so it was up to the audience to decide whether they are real, or whether they were just in a character’s dream.  This complicated the play, but also gave each viewer a freedom to interpret the story as they pleased.

Angels in America fearlessly deals with deep issues, which makes you leave the theater with a lot to think about. This play also makes you laugh and cry, because of its memorable characters and meaningful story.

Click the links for a peek at Signature’s production of Angels in America in this video trailer: Angels In America – Signature Theatre Trailer from Signature Theatre Company on Vimeo.