Before and After 'The Great Work': The Evolution of National Themes in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This thesis examines the contemporary relevance of Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’ twenty-five years after its original premiere on Broadway in 1993, when critics referred to it as “the most thrilling play in years” and “an enormously impressive work of the imagination and intellect, a towering example of what theater stretched to its full potential can achieve.” With the play’s return to the Royal National Theatre in London in 2017 and its transfer to Broadway the following year, ‘Angels in America’ has taken flight once again in an era and society that is different, yet hauntingly similar to its post-Reagan predecessor. Despite its age, ‘Angels in America’ acquired two new titles within the 2017-18 season: the fastest selling show in National Theatre history, and the most Tony Award-nominated production of a play in Broadway history. This thesis studies the staging of both the original 1993 Broadway production and the 2017/18 National Theatre-Broadway revival as case studies to approach the question “Why ‘Angels in America’ today?”, and focuses primarily on the subtitle of the play: ‘A Gay Fantasia on National Themes.’ Of the many themes contained within the play’s two-part eight-hour structure that help contribute to its contemporary relevance, I highlight themes that portray intimacy and connection, the family and the home, and the body and mind as microcosms of the larger nation. Many themes described here may not be the first to come to mind when one thinks of the nation or of ‘Angels in America’, and these themes do not come easy in the play—they are portrayed in betrayal, life-threatening situations, political corruption, drug addiction, and urban decay. By placing the themes against the backdrop of New York City in the 1980s, Kushner puts the nation to the test by means of the audience who live in it, and through the evolution of these themes over time, he pushes the nation to question and redefine itself.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 2018 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Valerio, Eliseo |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Jakovljević, Branislav |
| Advisor | Phelan, Peggy |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of Theater and Performance Studies |
Subjects
| Subject | theater and performance studies |
|---|---|
| Subject | national themes |
| Subject | contemporary theater |
| Subject | political theater |
| Subject | Tony Kushner |
| Subject | Angels in America |
| Subject | American drama |
| Subject | contemporary relevance |
| Subject | Broadway revivals |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Valerio, Eliseo (2018). Before and After ‘The Great Work’: The Evolution of National Themes in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/pf018dk1436
Collection
Stanford University, Department of Theater and Performance Studies, Undergraduate Honors Theses
Contact information
- Contact
- eliseo@alumni.stanford.edu
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