PERESTROIKA is the second part of Tony Kushner’s epic ANGELS IN AMERICA. What follows on this page is a combined review of the two parts – the second of which is playing at The Green Room Theatre through December 14.
The folks at Green Room, who recently produced ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART ONE: MILLENIUM APPROACHES (run dates: 10/31/2008-11/9/2008), have continued their work on this show. In keeping with that overall approach, director Derek Bertelsen has thru-cast the show and everyone has again done stunning work – which means almost everything I wrote about PART ONE is also true of PART TWO. ____________________________________________________________________________
Tony Kushner’s expansive drama, ANGELS IN AMERICA, is the kind of ambitious project that many theater groups will not, and probably cannot, attempt – especially considering the first part of the show is a good three-plus hours on its own.
The fact that the talented young gentlemen who founded Green Room (and relatively recently) seem to have no hesitation about taking on this project – with productions of Part One and Part Two opening roughly a month apart – says something about their courage and confidence. It is a massive show with many technical requirements, from supernatural elements to characters ravaged by disease, and it has a long list of roles and scene changes that would tax a much larger organization with a much larger space. Its mid-1980s subject matter (sexuality, race, politics, religion, AIDS, death), strong language and mature themes would scare off a lot of others.
But Green Room executive director Derek Bertelsen, who helms ANGELS IN AMERICA, and Green Room artistic director Tyson Danner, who appears in it, are undaunted. They display an ambition for the organization that would be unseemly were it not so earnest and – with their abilities – so completely within reach.
In fact, their self-confidence is not at all misplaced. And a quick glance at the impressive cast list for this production will reassure anyone who may have had brief doubts.
The result of all this talent is a show that is almost shocking in its naturalism and emotional immediacy. This PERESTROIKA, like the MILLENIUM APPROACHES which preceded it, is an excellent dramatic production that has what it takes to deliver Kushner’s work with the multi-layered intensity it deserves.
It will be a major mistake to miss it.
Even if you did miss MILLENIUM APPROACHES, make whatever sacrifice is necessary to see PERESTROIKA. A brief synopsis in the program, plus the gargantuan talents of this cast (each of whom puts every word and action into context) makes it possible for you to easily appreciate this second part of the larger work without having seen the first.
Here’s some of what I said about the actors after seeing PART ONE…
The company of eight, who play more than twice that many roles, includes Pat Flaherty as the dynamic and larger-than-life Roy Cohn. Flaherty establishes Cohn’s persona in an early scene, completely dominating a face-to-face conversation with Joe Pitt (Steven Quartell) as well as three or more frustrating ones he’s having on various phone lines at the same time. It’s a single-scene example of the dexterity Flaherty brings to this oversized, crusty role, and every single line he tinges with an inflection – all the way through Cohn’s final scene – turns out exactly as it should. The result is a great performance that seems completely effortless.
Quartell’s tightly-wound Joe Pitt is something of a revelation. As a Reagan Republican and devout Mormon struggling to "overcome" homosexuality in a time when many still believed – erroneously – that being gay or lesbian was a "sexual preference," Joe is miserable beyond belief; and in unbelievably understated ways, Quartell lets us see every ounce of that misery. His rigid posture and often impassive face are belied by little jerks or tics and the occasional compulsive hand gesture, and it is Quartell’s massive control that ultimately makes this dead-on portrayal so totally authentic.
The beautiful James Bleeker is wonderful as Prior Walter, the pretty young end of the Walter line, and he also lends his character a simple believability that is simultaneously affecting and effective. As the African American former drag queen named Belize, Jason Platt is stunningly good, combining a breezily, even off-handedly effete manner with powerfully visceral emotion that will jolt you with its depth. Platt plays a swoon-worthy dream-state travel agent with equal ease.
PERESTROIKA includes almost every character we saw in PART ONE, plus about ten additional roles for the same octet of actors. If anything, Pat Flaherty actually gets better — even more deeply subsumed into the character – as he continues in the role of Roy Cohn. The raw, visceral evocation of Cohn’s vitriol is deeply affecting here, and this performance is a master work.
Steven Quartell’s character has unwound just a bit, but underneath the slightly-less-rigid exterior is still a man with massive issues. His Joe Pitt is still dangerously on edge, and what once surfaced as slight tics and jerky movements now comes out in other ways. Prior Walter (James Bleeker) also undergoes a major change in PERESTROIKA, reacting in unpredictable ways to the prophetic visions he has – and Bleeker once again does amazing things with the role.
Jason Platt, like Flaherty, has also – despite the impossibility inherent in improving on a form of perfection – gotten better in this second part of ANGELS. This is especially true in the many scenes where these two fantastic actors both appear. Platt, as Belize, an AIDS ward nurse, and Flaherty’s Cohn are polar opposites of each other – their conversations are sometimes like flint on stone – and the combination proves fabulous.
My single favorite scene in PERESTROIKA is theirs, as Cohn, seeking reassurance as well as distraction from intense pain, asks about what the afterlife is like. Belize then describes in loving detail a multi-cultural, diversely-gendered, free-thinking and slightly shabby utopia of harmony and social justice (a gorgeously-, brilliantly-delivered speech that is unforgettable); then Cohn says something like, "So, what’s heaven like?" When Platt (as Belize), say he was describing heaven, Flaherty’s Cohn delivers a spluttering, over-the-top, vituperative response that is hilarious. A scene like this – which is played for much more than laughs – is obscenely successful because both actors are so completely genuine throughout. You couldn’t ask for anything better.
While the female characters in MILLENNIUM APPROACHES are perhaps not written with the same complexity of the male ones, Tracy Pelzer-Timm, Jackie Madunic and Sheri Hess still sink their teeth into roles of all sizes. There’s an elderly rabbi and several other male characters with brief appearances, but the three women in this show do so much more. Pelzer-Timm handles (Joe’s wife) Harper Pitt’s mental illness appropriately, and her scenes (of Harper delusions) with Bleeker and with Platt are particularly strong. Madunic plays Hannah Pitt (Joe’s mother) with a stalwart grace that is just right, and nails a couple of male roles, too.
The gorgeous Hess gets a minute or two as the titular Angel, but also does empathetic work as a medical professional and is spot-on as a homeless woman and a daffy real-estate agent, too. (As an aside, anyone who has ever speculated that Hess only gets roles because of her looks or her family connections or her voice – which, incidentally, isn’t showcased well here at all – need only see her diverse, totally superb work in this production to forever banish those obviously baseless notions.)
In PERESTROIKA, Jackie Madunic does get considerably more to work with as the role of Hannah Pitt develops, and this fine actor sinks her teeth in all the way. From the daffy, yet deeply-felt, pronouncements Hannah makes about men all the way to Madunic’s scenes with Bleeker (especially when Hannah goes with Prior to the hospital), this is incredibly strong acting – and Madunic shines as Ethel Rosenberg, especially when she prays the Kaddish.
Danner has the difficult job of playing Louis Ironson, a character whose reaction to his partner’s illness is less than one would hope. One of Kushner’s least-defined characters – though one of the show’s largest -- this flawed, erratically-behaved character can’t be easy to play in a believable way, but Danner does an admirable job just the same. He delivers Louis’ monologue-heavy dialogue without hesitation, spits out the ironic punch lines with careful clarity, and plays the role with a palpable detachment that is at odds with character’s emotional turmoil. The result is a compelling presentation of an enigmatic young man, which leaves us on seat’s edge as we wait for the sequel.
Tyson Danner indeed serves up a more developed Louis in PERESTROIKA, though the character is no more likeable than before, and the result is a fully-formed human being with the capacity to change and grow – even if he is still unhappy. And he also prays the Kaddish with a reluctant, even ironic honesty that is compelling.
As with PART ONE of ANGELS IN AMERICA, The Green Room Theatre produces this follow-up by sticking with both cast and crew from the previous production, so all I originally wrote about the tech before still applies for PART TWO.
Bertelsen has done masterful work here, making the most of the bare-bones oeuvre that continually serves the organization well, and a host of other talents also help the acting company to shine.
Bryan L. Tank’s hauntingly lovely original music (played so well by Randin Turner) punctuates and underscores many of the show’s most important moments, giving gravity and continuity in just the right places. The multi-talented Jennifer Kingry uses her lighting design to enhance the show’s supernatural elements without ever outstripping the minimalist aesthetic.
David Turley’s makeup design uses a light touch – yet still graphically represents the ravages of disease that gradually overtake characters in this moving work. (As an aside, Turley also deserves kudos for not painting Platt with really dark makeup, as some designers probably would have done. On behalf of all the others who would have been just as offended as I, Turley has my thanks for his sensitivity.)
This ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART TWO: PERESTROIKA – like ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART ONE, MILLENIUM APPROACHES before it – is a stark, affecting presentation that will amaze you with its depth and brilliance. It’s – again – a must-see for my adult readers, and simply too good – and too important – to miss.
