Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika Versions of Reality Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)

Quote #4

Prior: It wasn't a dream. [...] I think it really happened. I'm a prophet. (2.1.20-22)

Prior seems pretty much convinced that his experience with the angel was, on some level, real. He certain that he's been given a prophecy. Unfortunately, it's not one he wants to bring into reality.

Quote #5

Harper: Don't worry, I'm not really here. I have terrible powers. I see more than I want to see. Maybe I'm a witch. (3.1.14)

In this moment of reality bending, Harper seems to magically cross into Louis' apartment. There she talks to Joe while he's in bed with his new lover, Louis. She says she's not really there, but is some part of her actually present?

Quote #6

Father: [...] but who was Right? Could only be One True Church. All else darkness...
Stage Directions: Louis suddenly appears in the diorama.
Louis: OK yeah yeah yeah but then answer me this: How can a fundamentalist theocratic religion function participatorily in a pluralist secular democracy? [...]
Prior: Oh my god Oh my god. What... What is going on here? (3.3.52)

Good question, Prior. There are all kinds of layers of reality here. For one, both Prior and Harper imagine Joe as the Mormon Father in the diorama room of the Mormon Visitors Center. As if that weren't weird enough, they then both simultaneously witness a religious debate occurring between Louis and Joe all the way in Brooklyn. The actor playing Joe ends up having to play the Mormon Father and Joe at the same time. This scene really takes time and space and puts it in a blender, which is precisely why it's so awesome.