"Angels in America" may be the most significant American play to emerge from the last decades of the 20th century. A year ago, the University of Utah's Babcock Theatre mounted an outstanding production of the first part, "Millennium Approaches." This week "Perestroika" opened its run at the Babcock. Incredibly, this production is more emotionally powerful than its predecessor.
Although familiarity with "Millennium Approaches" gives these overachieving students an advantage, "Perestroika" is more challenging. It moves beyond the political, religious, and social panorama of 1980s America at the heart of "Millennium" into an almost cosmic consciousness. An angel announces that God has abandoned his creatures, and the characters struggle to make sense of their lives without him. Power broker Roy Cohn lies in a hospital dying of AIDS, nursed by the pragmatic Belize. Mormons Joe and Harper Pitt search for ways to repair their fractured lives, aided by Joe's mother, Hannah. The visionary Prior tries to come to grips with his new role as prophet while he copes with his illness. His ex-boyfriend Louis, wracked by guilt and uncertainty, drifts into a relationship with Joe.
Their lives intertwine in a world where Kushner shatters every theatrical convention and characters walk in and out of each other's dreams and visions. "Perestroika" turns on a set of finely wrought polarities: Exploring versus standing still; devastation and heartbreak versus progress and building; material prosperity versus plague; pragmatists versus prophets; sin and guilt versus forgiveness; sensual versus spiritual; and love versus loss. Ultimately, it is a celebration of shared humanity. It has moments of perception and piercing poetry that leave you breathless, and also manages to be truly funny.
Without exception, the actors in "Perestroika" understand their characters completely, and their performances are so genuine and natural that we feel we're eavesdropping on real conversations. Anita Holland's articulate, awe-inspiring Angel; A-Ron Anderson's self-righteous Joe; Nicholas Bayne's intellectual, insecure Louis; Jonah Taylor's outspoken Belize; Kristen Bailey's vulnerable Harper; and especially Aaron Adams's abusive, larger-than-life Roy Cohn and Thomas Marcus' deeply spiritual Prior are anchored by Sarah Shippobotham's no-nonsense yet compassionate Hannah.
Major credit for this production's professionalism goes to director L.L. West, who fluidly moves the actors around a demanding set and navigates Kushner's emotional peaks and valleys with ease. Thomas George's set with its jagged brick wall and global backdrop, Danny Dunn and Libby Oberg's focused lighting, and Melissa Pearcy's evocative sound design create a vivid sense of time and place.
People who have seen "Millennium Approaches" will have more depth and context for "Perestroika," but the actors give a neat summary at the start so you won't get lost. "Perestroika" is not only an engrossing theatrical experience - it's an engaging and provocative look back at a turbulent time in American history.
Perestroika
WHERE: The Babcock Theatre, downstairs from Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. University Ave., Salt Lake City
WHEN: Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m through March 11, with a 2 p.m. matinee today and March 11.
RUNNING TIME: 3 hours, 30 minutes, with two intermissions
TICKETS: $12, $6 for students. Call 581-7100 or 355-ARTS for tickets or information. "Perestroika" contains adult language and situations.
BOTTOM LINE: Even if you've never seen "Millennium Approaches," the first part of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," don't miss this opportunity to see an exceptional production of part two, "Perestroika."
