Well, let me tell ya ’bout this play, Angels in America. Heard it’s a big deal, won all sorts of fancy prizes. They’re puttin’ it on down in Provincetown, that’s what they say.
Now, this ain’t no simple story, mind you. It’s about folks livin’ in the city, New York City, back in the eighties. Times were tough, real tough. There was this sickness goin’ around, they called it AIDS, and it was scarin’ the bejesus outta everybody. This play, it talks about that, about how people was dealin’ with it, you know, the fear and the sadness and all.
So, there’s this fella, he’s a gay man, and his lover, well, he ups and leaves him when he finds out he’s got the sickness. Can you imagine? Leavin’ a man when he’s down and out. Heartless, I tell ya, just heartless. But that’s what happened, and this play, it shows you all the hurt and the mess of it all.
Then there’s this other fella, a lawyer, married and all, but he’s got secrets, you see. He’s what they call “closeted,” hidin’ who he really is. And his wife, poor thing, she’s got her own troubles, takin’ pills and such. Their marriage, it ain’t a happy one, that’s for sure. This play, it gets right into the thick of it, showin’ you all the cracks and the broken pieces.
- It’s about love, or what’s left of it.
- It’s about bein’ sick and scared.
- It’s about secrets and lies.
And then there’s the angels. Yeah, you heard right, angels. Big, winged creatures comin’ down from the sky. Now, I ain’t never seen an angel myself, but this fella, the one who wrote the play, he says he dreamt about ’em. Said he saw one in a dream after his friend died from that sickness, AIDS, it was. And that’s how he got the idea for the whole thing, this Angels in America.
They say it’s a long play, takes three and a half hours to watch, not countin’ the breaks. That’s a long time to be sittin’, but folks say it’s worth it. They say it makes you laugh and cry, makes you think about things you ain’t never thought about before. They also say it ain’t all doom and gloom, there’s some funny parts too. Guess that’s what life’s like, ain’t it? A mix of good and bad, happy and sad, all jumbled up together.
Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, that’s the full name they give it. They’re puttin’ it on at the Provincetown Theater, down on Bradford Street. If you’re in the neighborhood, maybe you wanna go see it. Me? I don’t know. Sounds like a lot to take in, all that sickness and sadness. But maybe, just maybe, it’s somethin’ worth seein’. Maybe it’ll help folks understand each other a little better, see that even when things get real bad, there’s still some hope, some love, left in the world.
Anyways, that’s what I heard about this play. Like I said, it’s a big deal, so I figured I’d tell ya ‘bout it. Maybe you’ll go see it, maybe you won’t. Either way, it’s out there, this story about angels and sickness and folks tryin’ to make sense of it all.
Now, they tellin’ me they got a website for the theater, where you can buy tickets and all. But I ain’t got no use for that internet stuff. Too complicated for an old woman like me. If you wanna go, you gotta figure it out yourself. But it’s there, they say, down in Provincetown, this Angels in America.
And that’s all I got to say about it. Just a bunch of folks and their troubles, with some angels thrown in for good measure. Makes you think, don’t it?
Tags: [Angels in America, Provincetown Theater, Tony Kushner, AIDS crisis, 1980s, New York City, Gay, Marriage, Love, Loss, Theater, Play, Drama]
