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Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Paperback – December 24, 2013

by Tony Kushner (Author)
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes includes Part One, Millennium Approaches and Part Two, Perestroika

“Glorious. A monumental, subversive, altogether remarkable masterwork…Details of specific catastrophes may have changed since this Reagan-era AIDS epic won the Pulitzer and the Tony, but the real cosmic and human obsessions—power, religion, sex, responsibility, the future of the world—are as perilous, yet as falling-down funny, as ever.” –Linda Winer, Newsday

"A vast, miraculous play... provocative, witty and deeply upsetting... a searching and radical rethinking of American political drama." - Frank Rich, New York Times

"A victory for theater, for the transforming power of the imagination to turn devastation into beauty." - John Lahr, New Yorker

“An enormously impressive work of the imagination and intellect, a towering example of what theater stretched to its full potential can achieve.” -Philadelphia Inquirer

"Angels in America is the finest drama of our time, speaking to us of an entire era of life and death as no other play within memory. It ranks as nothing less than one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century." - John Heilpern, New York Observer

“Some playwrights want to change the world. Some want to revolutionize theater. Tony Kushner is that rarity of rarities: a writer who has the promise to do both.” -New York Times


This new edition of Tony Kushner's masterpiece is published with the author's recent changes and a new introduction in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of its original production. One of the most honored American plays in history, Angels in America was awarded two Tony Awards for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was made into an Emmy Award-winning HBO film directed by Mike Nichols. This two-part epic, subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," has received hundreds of performances worldwide in more than twenty-six languages.

Tony Kushner’s plays include Angels in America; Hydriotaphia, or the Death of Dr. Brown; The Illusion, adapted from the play by Pierre Cornelle; Slavs!; A Bright Room Called Day; Homebody/Kabul; Caroline, or Change, a musical with composer Jeanine Tesori; and The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. He wrote the screenplays for Mike Nichols’s film of Angels in America and for Steven Spielberg’s Munich and Lincoln. His books include The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to the Present; Brundibar, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak; and Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, co-edited with Alisa Solomon.
Among many honors, Kushner is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, an Olivier Award, an Emmy Award, two Oscar nominations, and the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. He lives in Manhattan with his husband, Mark Harris.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Theatre Communications Group
  4. Publication date
    December 24, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781559363846
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1559363846
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Angels in America has proved to be a watershed drama, the most lyrical and ambitious augury of an era since Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie.” –John Lahr, New Yorker

"A vast, miraculous play... provocative, witty and deeply upsetting... a searching and radical rethinking of American political drama." -Frank Rich, New York Times

"Daring and dazzling! The most ambitious America play of our time: an epic that ranges from earth to heaven; focuses on politics, sex, and religion; transports us to Washington, the Kremlin, the South Bronx, Salt Lake City and Antarctica; deals with Jews, Mormons, WASPs, blacks; switches between realism and fantasy, from the tragedy of AIDS to the camp comedy of drag queens to the death or at least absconding of God…Angels in America is the broadest, deepest, most searching American play of our time." - Jack Kroll, Newsweek

“Few plays have captured the spirit of an age more powerfully than Angels in America…and the passage of time has not clipped Angels’ wings.” –Paul Taylor, Independent (London)

“Something rare, dangerous, and harrowing…a roman candle hurled into a drawing room.” –Nicholas de Jongh, London Evening Standard

“Angels breaks all the rules to achieve the astonishing integrity of its vision…It is a play that has remained utterly of-the-moment.” –Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg

“The most influential American play of the last two decades.” –Patrick Healy, New York Times

“That Angels came so close to the burning heart of the Zeitgeist left Kushner fearing he would never get there again. But in fact he has been there so often that he seems to have passed right through it…Angels, so much a cry in the dark about AIDS when it was written, seems now to be as much about the Earth’s potentially fatal illness as gay men’s.” –Jesse Green, New York

“The greatest American play of the waning years of the twentieth century.” –Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Tony Kushner’s plays include Angels in America; Hydriotaphia, or the Death of Dr. Brown; The Illusion, adapted from the play by Pierre Cornelle; Slavs!; A Bright Room Called Day; Homebody/Kabul; Caroline, or Change, a musical with composer Jeanine Tesori; and The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. He wrote the screenplays for Mike Nichols’s film of Angels in America and for Steven Spielberg’s Munich and Lincoln. His books include The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to the Present; Brundibar, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak; and Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, co-edited with Alisa Solomon.
Among many honors, Kushner is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, an Olivier Award, an Emmy Award, two Oscar nominations, and the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. He lives in Manhattan with his husband, Mark Harris.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1559363843
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Theatre Communications Group; 20th Anniversary edition (December 24, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781559363846
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1559363846
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.06 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Tony Kushner

Tony Kushner

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Tony Kushner's plays include A Bright Room Called Day and Slavs!; as well as adaptations of Corneille's The Illusion, Ansky's The Dybbuk, Brecht's The Good Person of Szecguan and Goethe's Stella. Current projects include: Henry Box Brown or The Mirror of Slavery; and two musical plays: St. Cecilia or The Power of Music and Caroline or Change. His collaboration with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children's opera, Brundibar, appeared in book form Fall 2003. Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he lives in New York.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
871 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

KC Baden
5.0 out of 5 stars Does justice to a great play.
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is my favorite play. Tony Kushner rendered a heart-wrenching story, and this most completed version brought it even closer to perfection. Noticable changes have been made, especially to Part 2: "Perestroika," but I think they all work to the overall story's advantage. The two scenes that were cut from the original published version are still available to read in the back. There are also notes and an intro written by Kushner himself. For someone who claims not to care for intros, he makes decent work of them. ;)
The book itself is very sturdy (I bought the hardcover version), the cover beautiful (even if I'm not a fan of dust jackets) and the pages have held up through three read-throughs so far as I carry this book all over town like a security blanket and read it everywhere from the breakfast table to waiting rooms to my local park. Most satisfying purchase I've made yet. I recommend this to anyone who needs their heart broken and/or healed, or just has space on their bookshelf.
16 people found this helpful
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S. G. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars A Contemporary Classic
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2014
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This was and continues to be one of my favorite plays of all time. The subtitle describes exactly what the play is all about: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Bear in mind, this play takes places in the mid 1980's: President Reagan was in office and the new Millennium is approaching, a time of uncertainty. Some call it an AIDS play, but it is much more than that. It's about love, betrayal, abandonment, religion, forgiveness, friendship, and the supernatural. The dialogue can be preachy, but that does not mean it's bad. Quite the opposite. It's pretty excellent. Mr. Kushner's use of words are quite exquisite. Probably my favorite scene of this play occurs in part 2 of the play, when the character Harper is alone in the Mormon center, and she obtains advice about life from an interesting source. Overall, the play is worth re-visiting after 23 years since its world premiere at Eureka Theatre Company in San Francisco, CA.
8 people found this helpful
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RCTNYC
5.0 out of 5 stars We suggest that the Angels sue God (as opposed to Cohn's advice that everyone sue someone just for fun - wonderful discussion of
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
Still timely - the plight of AIDs victims is a symbol of the high cost of the loss of community (Reaganism) in modern America and dangers of self-interest (Reaganism and Ayn Rand, the latter via Roy Cohn); and, ultimately, of the triumph of the human desire for "More Life" (Prior, Belize, Hannah, Louis). God has abandoned heaven; the Angels want him back; the price is human life (we must "stop moving"). We suggest that the Angels sue God (as opposed to Cohn's advice that everyone sue someone just for fun - wonderful discussion of law v justice in this text).

Definitely read both plays - Millennium Approaches and Peteroiska - because the themes in the first are developed and resolved in the latter. I taught the play to my college students: it really helps if they also watch the HBO production (it is a play, after all, not a novel). My students were bewildered at first, but the HBO version clarified much for them. I think that they ended up really loving Angels and will be thinking for a long time about its important themes. (They all loved Prior a lot.)

Finally, for the theory wonks and those teaching the play at college level: a major influence on Kushner's own work was Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in An Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Kushner has stated in interviews that the name, "Prior Walter," is derived from a joking reference to Benjamin between Kushner and a friend. An interesting essay assignment might be to examine the connections betweem Benjamin's theories and Angels. (I'm sure Kushner would think such a comparison totally beside the point - but a wonk is a wonk, and I teach theory (-;
13 people found this helpful
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Aissa G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2015
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This is one of my favorite plays of all time. All of the characters are as memorable as hey are distinct, and you truly feel yourself become immersed in the storyline. Heck, I read the whole 7 hour play in 1 afternoon. I just couldn't put it down! Kushner's author's notes are well worth reading as well, as I found them to be very interesting and it helped to put the setting of the play into perspective. With it's perfect balance of humor, fantasy, and hard-hitting drama, it is definitely a must-read for anyone, regardless of their interest in theatre.
6 people found this helpful
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Nora Cooper
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2016
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The use of queer and religious themes to theorize America, or at the very least, say something about the country, is compelling and dramatic. Sometimes the play gets lost in itself, and it falters for it, but otherwise it's very good, even if it's long.
One person found this helpful
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California User
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2006
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After watching the Angels in America DVD, I wanted to see how it was originally as a play, and it does not disappoint. In many ways, I think it's a better experience reading this play than it was to see it on my tiny television. Angels in America is essentially a theatrical work, and the miniseries came off just as that, a filmed stage play, espcially in Part 1: Millenium Approaches, so that it seemed really static, even with, if not because of, Mike Nichols' direction. It was, on the other hand, tremendously faithful to the play script. As far as I could tell, not a word was changed.

Part 2: Perestroika, however, had a few changes from the script to screen, and those changes worked well, making the filmed version far more dynamic than Part 1. There's some additional backstory that got dropped in the translation, but the spirit is very much the same.

Ultimately, I recommend that you watch the DVD to get an idea of the characters' mannerisms and the staging, then read the script to fully appreciate the poetry of Tony Kushner's language. Buy it and love it!
11 people found this helpful
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A F
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2004
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As an actor I have a very discerning eye when it comes to plays, and i was amazed with this piece of literature. I decided to read the first few pages before bed, and before i knew it i had finished and it was almost dawn.

No matter what personal views you have on the subject of politics, AIDS, or religion there is a clear message aimed at all of us as Americans, regardless of beliefs. I found Kushner's ideas compelling, making me think and even more so, feel. there's nothing like reading a great book and becoming enveloped by it and this is one of the best plays of our time; hands down.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

p.c.o.
5.0 out of 5 stars a modern classic
Reviewed in Germany on May 8, 2023
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More Life, a time for Hope
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Unfortunatley-Crazy!
5.0 out of 5 stars The 2 Part split formation works perfectly to highlight the shift in atmosphere and am glad to say the ending isn't predictable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
Pure genius! The 2 Part split formation works perfectly to highlight the shift in atmosphere and am glad to say the ending isn't predictable. Time to find a live stage version of this.
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Alma Abbs
5.0 out of 5 stars Faultless transaction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2014
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All went as well as it could go with this order. No delay, book arrived in condition as described and I have no reason for complaint.
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2016
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Didn't realise it was in playwriting form.
One person found this helpful
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Kathi
3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite piece of art but it was good
Reviewed in Germany on May 15, 2017
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So I finally finished Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner for my Literary Studies course. To be honest it was very difficult to read but somehow I enjoyed it.

The play is about various people and couples in America in the 1980s, during the AIDS epidemic. The characters represent not only men with AIDS but also, black people, drug addicts, religious people, Jews, and a lot more. Not only these topics are mentioned but also a lot of political, national and worldly topics, such as slavery or the world wars. In this play you can find a lot of themes.

There are a lot of different characters in the book who somehow have a connection to one another (it's very similar to the movie Love Actually where the characters are connected to each other). Reading the play is sometimes really confusing because the switches between the characters happen really fast and therefore it gets confusing. Sometimes you just don't realize who talks to whom and mix up everything.

The story is kind of depressing because of the themes which are mentioned. The cover of the book is so beautiful! I am glad I bought this edition of the play! Sadly, this play was not my favorite one but it was good. And I totally get why it already won so much prizes and awards. It would be nice to see this play on a stage.
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