Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America, was ambitious in 1993, taking on difficult subject matter, and the Maryland Ensemble Theatre is ambitious to take on such a challenging production. ‘Set in the mid-1980s amid the AIDS crisis and the Regan administration, the characters struggle with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell’*. Originally intended for a season three years ago but sidelined by COVID, Angels now marks the MET’s 150th production overall and falls during its 25th anniversary, a huge undertaking for Artistic Director/Director Tad Janes. Janes uses a strong hand, adeptly handling Kushner’s obstacles of pace and rhythm, both through the crisp, often over-lapping dialogue of the actors and technical elements, specifically the transitions, called smoothly by Stage Manager Courtney McLaughlin. Thematically underscored by Kaydin Hamby’s sound design, which may have been pulled from a K-Tel LP I once owned, or if I didn’t I would like to; the technical elements efficiently assisted the pace, flow and setting of the show, which is important – it is a three-hour tour.
The set, also under Janes design, is hung with curtains of white fabric, which are pulled aside in transitions and set pieces on carts rolled on/off to create location; scenes were primarily divided left and right with periodic use of the full stage. Projections designed by David DiFalco were occasionally editorial but effectively added location or aesthetic. Costumer Karsen Green’s use of the multiple hues of grey, blue, and white with dots of saturated reds underscored the murky text of blurred moral and ethical choices, of disease, of hospital, of antiseptic.
Set primarily in the political landscape of the Justice Department in DC and a hospital room in New York, the play grapples with multiple storylines, inlaid with political intrigue, overlaid with the discovery of a new Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, a ‘plague’ that primarily impacted the gay community, specifically, gay men. Untreatable and cruel, this disease led to a slow, drawn out, and painful termination of life.
MET company member Jack Evans’ specificity of intention in acts two and three of his portrayal of DC power lawyer Roy Cohen could give structure to the frenetic-ness of his first scene. He eventually overwhelms us with his aggressive charm and passion, forcing us to like, or at least not hate, the morally-bankrupt, vindictive and vicious character, going from intimate to dangerous in a flicker. Interactions between he and Joe Pitt, an unwilling Mormon and wet blanket of ambition hoisting his own petard, played by Matt Baughman, are engaging foils. Shea-Mikal Green as Harper, Pitt’s Valium-addicted wife, endears us to her, fighting her anxieties, she takes us on her hallucinogenic journeys, allowing us access to her fight for a reality. Green has found an appealing childlike gentleness in the telling of her tragedy.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, a young gay man, Prior, is stricken with the newly discovered, deadly disease. In tour de force performance, Jeremy Myers finds physical and emotional nuance, sustaining a painful transition with dignity and grace sprinkled with dark self-deprecating humor. Watching the portrayal of pain disease inflicts on the body could really become overwrought and too much to sustain for both artist and audience for the length of time we watch his light extinguish. He does well finding levels of struggle along the way and moments of lightness in the dark. The ironic delight he expresses in his first few scenes are disarming and engaging. He, like Harper, experiences hallucinations. He is visited by an Angel which is represented in multiple forms, the most effective being the first simple magic of its introduction by use of a single feather, and the final full portrayal of an archetypical Angel- winged and flying. The representational use of red lighting effects designed by Shana Joslyn, were less impactful. But my biggest disappointment of the production was that the echo effect used on the voice of the Angel made it mostly inaudible.
The overlap of these worlds comes via the character of Louis, Prior’s partner at shows’ start. Louis separates himself from the relationship once Prior announces his illness; unable to face the decay, he runs away. While in a bathroom in the department of justice, Louis has his spirits lifted by Mormon/Regan-ite Joe, and a new conflicted relationship begins. Eric Jones portrayal of Louis is monumental. His dexterity with dialogue and emotional investment are impressive. There are times I’m not sure if the struggle to not come across as the ‘bad guy’ is that of the character, or the concern of the actor for the character, but the struggle is real.
Ray Hatch is delightful and efficient in his varied roles, often getting laughs with his comedic silences. Nancy Jones is competent as Joe’s mother Hannah, but I really found delight in her endearing portrayals of the Rabbi and upstart Doctor. Jones’ Rabbi monologue at the funeral lifts the show up out of the gate. Julie Herber has a great capacity for physicality, differentiating her many characters, and the image and impact of her final Angel entrance is one of the shows breath-taking moments. Herber also does well as the show’s intimacy coordinator. The on-stage sex and scenes of intimacy and violence were capably portrayed.
Director Tad Janes has done the company proud with this production of Angels and although this show now presents as a ‘period piece’, its themes, for better or worse, are still relevant. The 80s were a divisive cruel time in America and a dangerous place to be if you were known to be gay. I’m not sure how much has changed in 40 years. Along those lines I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Angels in America is a part 1. Kushner has penned a part 2. This does make for some problems for Angels as a standalone production. There are sub-storylines that are introduced in part 1, the journey of Hannah for instance, doesn’t fully develop until part 2 and the play ends with a feeling of ‘to be continued’, because, it is that indeed, not all storylines resolve here. The evening is an investment of time and emotion.
Running Time: 3 hours and 20 minutes including two intermissions
Angels In America Part 1: Millennium Approaches plays through March 5, 2023 on the Main Stage of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in the Historic FSK Hotel building— 31 W. Patrick street in downtown historic Frederick, MD. For tickets call the box office at (301) 694-4744 or purchase them online.
