Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches Questions

Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.

  1. Read another of Tony Kushner's plays, like A Bright Room Called Day, Homebody/Kabul, or Caroline, Or Change. Compare and contrast it to Angels in America. How do the plays compare in theme? Style? Characters?
  2. What is the effect of the cross-gender casting that the play calls for? For example, the rabbi at the beginning of the play is meant to be played by Hannah, and Henry, Roy's ally, is meant to be played by Harper. How does this casting affect these scenes and the overall meaning of the play?
  3. Tony Kushner is known to be an admirer of Bertolt Brecht, the German playwright who popularized the style of theater known as epic. Research the work of Brecht and compare and contrast his work to Kushner's.
  4. Research the real Roy Cohn. Compare and contrast the historical person with Kushner's fictionalized version.