Angels In America theatre review: Seminal and captivating
An expansive depiction of mid-80s America as the Aids crisis raged
That so bare a stage could be home to such a rich tapestry of ideas, relationships and theatrical constructs is part of the wonder of Angels In America. Just one table adorns the space, home to two record turntables, and an expansive video backdrop transports us to New York’s Grand Central Station, a building exterior or the sea, among other places. But essentially, the actors are on their own with virtually no props (they mime taking phone calls) and little to indicate one scene ending and another beginning.
Much of this is how writer Tony Kushner wanted it but director Ivo van Hove gives the play an even more open and expansive feel in this Internationaal Theater Amsterdam production. At four hours 55 minutes (including a 45-minute interval), it’s surprising to learn that van Hove actually chipped away at Kushner’s original text. But as Angels In America started life as two individual plays, the length makes sense.
Kushner also had a lot to say about life in mid-1980s America, a time when President Reagan’s politics and the rising Aids crisis were in direct conflict. Although the play is set in 1985/86, premiered in 1991 and we’re now watching it in 2026, little (aside from advances in HIV medication) feels different. The stories that play out could be happening now: one couple struggles to navigate illness; another is unable to keep their marriage afloat in the face of secrets and lies; and a right-wing lawyer manipulates the lives of others while his own true self goes unacknowledged.
Sexuality, race, religion and political machinations are woven throughout, some explicit, others less obvious. So rich in metaphor and symbolism is Kushner’s text that not everything is easy to grasp, especially in the mouths of the more complex characters (we’re looking at you, The Angel). Even then, as we drift in and out of dreams, drug-fuelled hallucinations and visions, it’s still possible to get the gist; thanks in no small part to the excellent eight-strong cast, unflinching in their commitment.
In particular, Hans Kesting as the loathsome Roy Cohn (based on the real-life Republican lawyer, firmly in the closet and insistent he’s dying of liver cancer, not Aids), Marieke Heebink as the Mormon mother and myriad other characters, and Jesse Mensah as best friend and nurse Belize, are all endlessly watchable. Only the constant flicking between fast-paced translation and the action onstage inhibits full emotional absorption in an otherwise captivating production.
Angels In America, King’s Theatre, 18 & 19 August, 6pm; 20 August, 1pm.