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Preview: Angels in America

 Cherwell’s Verdict
“Angelic performances break up some heavy material”

Set in New York in the 80s, Angels in America sees a community of young homosexual men being torn apart by the AIDS crisis. The art, however, of this script is that in every scene when you might want to cry, you’ll want to laugh too. Humour pervades the play, which – cunningly – only serves to make the terror of the situation all the more horrific. Playhouse student shows often play it safe. Recently we’ve had Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge – not his greatest play, but one that features on GCSE syllabuses. There’s been Sondheim, Pinter, Chekhov – all of them household names. But now Oxford will see something genuinely unusual: Angels in America, a three hour play that verges on opera, by Tony Kushner.

The cast bring the comic quality of the script across excellently. Nor do they ham it up and descend into pantomimic camp to portray homosexuality, even though every male character is homosexual and every actor heterosexual. The relationship between Prior Walter (played by Ed Barr-Sim) and Louis Ironson (Arty Froushan) was believable; it was tender, too.

The script’s exploration of the politics surrounding the AIDS crisis manages to be both delicate and bludgeoning. During the main plot issues are alluded to, implied and suggested, but the sub-plot – that of Roy Cohn, a vicious McCarthyist lawyer (played by Barney White), as his diagnosis is revealed to him – treats the politics of the situation like an essay topic to be explicated and laid bare. This sub-plot is at least saved – as much as it can be – by White’s compelling performance and the historical interest (Cohn was a real person).

Angels in America had just over a week to go till opening night when I saw it, and it was shaping up impressively. All the actors – not just those already mentioned – were performing at a very high standard; all that seemed left to do was to polish the scenes so that they would shine, rather than just glow. The technical side of things sounds promising – not only do we get flying flats, we’ll have a flying actress too. The music, which, opera-like, will be played throughout the play, is entirely original and is currently being recorded. Nor will their director, Jack Sain, pare down the energy any time soon; “it is good to be obsessive,” to use his own words. 

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