Yzabel / July 2, 2012

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner

My rating: [rating=5]

Funny how things go. Four years ago, I just couldn’t push myself to read these plays. And now I’ve just breezed through them in a fascinated haze, barely able to put the book down when it was time to do something else. I can’t really explain it, why and how it made me react in a such a way.

It’s not an easy read, in that it tackles several contemporary issues—racial issues, homoesxuality, AIDS, politics—but also more emotion-centered ones, for want of a better expression (abandonment & coming home, love, the fear of death and ineluctability…). Yet at the same time, the words just seem to flow, invested with a life of their own, carrying those themes with the visions they evoke (I read some parts aloud, too; no play for me is meant to remain on paper only). Even the comical moments aren’t played for silly laughs, but convey something to think about.

And even without that: it’s simply beautifully written.