Tony Kushner’s magical, uniquely American play, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, examines the spirituality and politics of our nation in response to the AIDs crisis in the 1980s.

In this production of Angels in America Pt. 1, the director and I wanted to transport the audience into the psyche of the characters they were viewing onstage. The underscoring worked to highlight the space between the characters in any given moment dealing more with their psychological relationships overlaid on a heightened naturalist bed of sounds evocative of the urban landscape the play takes place in.

In the first sequence of cues, we hear Harper tuning into the Sexually Speaking radio talk show, quickly change the channel, then fall into a valium induced hallucination. The sequence ends when Mr. Lies appears to her.

The second sequence of cues is the transition to Act 2 Scene 2 in which Joe tries to reveal his struggle with his sexuality to Harper, and the underscoring for his monologue about the biblical character Jacob wrestling with the Angel.

The third sequence of cues is Ethel Rosenberg’s entrance and underscoring in Act 3 Scene 5.

Directed by Jillian Robertson

Scenic Design by Paul Dufresne

Lighting Design by Hannah Solomon

Costume Design by Chloe Moore

Angel Effect Design by Steven Doucette