Sunday, February 15, 2009

Project 2 Option 2 Angels in America

Project 2 Option 2

Angels in America

1. pre- 1993 San Fransisco

Angels in America is a landmark not just among AIDS plays or gay dramas but in American theater -- partly because Kushner has the audacity to equate gay concerns with the fate of this country. And although it's only his third produced play (following The Illusion and A Bright Room Called Day), Angels in America establishes the 34-year-old Kushner as the most important American playwright to emerge since David Mamet --

http://www.donshewey.com/theater_reviews/angels_in_america.html

  • This critic believes that this play is very important to societyin the days of the aids epidemic. He goes on to tell about the highs of the play through its entirety. He thinks very highly of Kushner making sure to pint out his age, and comment on his other works.

2. Original Broadway Review (since 1993)

"Angels in America" speaks so powerfully because something far larger and more urgent than the future of the theater is at stake. It really is history that Mr. Kushner intends to crack open. He sends his haunting messenger, a spindly, abandoned gay man with a heroic spirit and a ravaged body, deep into the audience's heart to ask just who we are and just what, as the plague continues and the millennium approaches, we intend this country to become.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2DC1431F936A35756C0A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

  • The critic from this review believes that this script is extremely powerful. He believes that this play definately causes the audience to think. He thinks that the message is haunting, but in a good way. The play makes the audience see things in a new light, they take something very important from the words.

3. Non NYC since 1993

Trying to describe this two-part, two-evening work brings to mind the fable of the blind men and the elephant -- each one finds something different. "Angels" is love story, diatribe on politics, plea for understanding of religious and sexual differences, exploration of race relations, paean to immigrant ancestors, and global overview of life's meaning. Frank language and explicit content are balanced with beautifully crafted poetry and touching emotional revelations. Kushner also finds an astonishing amount of humor in these serious realms.

http://www.theatreinthepark.com/2007-08_productions/angels.html

  • This critic enjoys the fact that Kushner finds humor in all of the seriousness. He speaks on the high points and low points of the production. and credits the actors for their performances, believing that they did well in bringing the characters to life.

4. University Review (anytime)

The most disappointing part of the production is the opening....but because Davis has caught her cast, and us, such a beauty of a play, minor perplexities don't matter.

http://theatre.fortlewis.edu/news/anglesI_2005_herald.asp

  • This critic likes the play but has a few probems here and there. They do not fancy the beginning but the rest of the play is really good to them . They really enjoy the casting becasue they make sure to talk in length about each character. They advise everyone to see the play. They speak highly of all aspects of the production.




5. HBO mini series (2003 film version)

Angels is many things at once: a drama about loneliness and family, biological and chosen; a story that shines light on all the dark places in the human heart; an offbeat comedy; a story about sexual/racial/religious/ethnic/political identity; one about life in the Reagan era; about friendship, cowardice, and guilt; a story about living with—and dying from—AIDS. Not just from HIV, but also from the ripples of heartbreak it sends out. The whole thing is a smorgasbord for dramaturges and analytical minds. What's remarkable, though, is that even if you managed to remain ignorant of all of the above interpretations, the story itself, taken at face value, is riveting.


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/angels_in_america/

  • You can tell by reading tht this critic thinks very highly of this film. She praises the directors for what she believes was a great job, taking this beautiful production into a made for TV movie. She believes that all of the emotion was there. And that they kept all of the most important elements of the story in the plot while remaining in a time slot.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Milwaukee Repertory theatre

Milwaukee Repertory Theatre

Trouble in mind
"The "rehearsal play" format has a self-reflexive quality that will please postmodernists who like watching theater about theater. "
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117932803.html?categoryid=33&cs=1
"Alice Childress' play-within-a-play"
http://www.curtainup.com/troubleinminddc.html


Mirandolina
"Carlo Goldoni's eighteenth century comedy"
http://www.curtainup.com/mirandolina.html
"lively operatic comedy."
http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=20536


Dogpark:the musical
"Judges, save that "best in show" ribbon for this musical. "
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/37480229.html
"An all-new musical canine comedy from the creators of Chaps!"
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dogpark-The-Musical-by-Beecham-Hillgartner-and-Hume/106853550230

Pride and Prejudic

Fire on the bayou

I just stopped by to see the man
"an extremely atmospheric, well-constructed play."
http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/p677/I-Just-Stopped-By-to-See-the-Man/product_info.html
"touching and often brilliant drama "
http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/12/13/lon.t_0.php

The cherry Orchard
"Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard
"Chekhov regarded this play as a comedy, and, indeed, it is, although there are certainly elements of farce and tragedy as well."
http://www.ccpt.org/cherryorchard.htm

CYRANO DE BERGERAC
By Edmond Rostand
"Cyrano de Bergerac is a drama"
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/pdf/cyrano.pdf
"An Heroic Comedy"
http://www.alleytheatre.org/Alley/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_EN.asp?SnID=861583322

DOUBT
By John Patrick Shanley
"While this is a serious drama about complicated human and social issues, it's also very funny and entertaining"
http://www.curtainup.com/doubt.html
"this Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning drama"
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/theater/reviews/15doub.html

THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
By Alan Ayckbourn
"While the plays are comedies they also have small tragedies very close to the surface."
http://www.curtainup.com/normanconquestslond.html
"This brilliant comic trilogy details the amorous exploits of Norman."
http://www.chestertheatregroup.org/norman07.html

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
By David Mamet
"Real estate salesmen face a fiercely competitive battle in this gritty, contemporary masterpiece"
http://www.actorstheatre.org/play_glengarry.htm
"Crackling tension ... ferocious comedy and drama."
http://www.thevlt.com/Now_Playing/PlaySL6.htm

THE NIGHT IS A CHILD
By Charles Randolph-Wright
"This glorious new drama takes you on a journey of discovery, forgiveness and understanding in the land of the Samba."
http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/2009_the_night_is_a_child.htm
"Charles Randolph-Wright's new drama."
http://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles/shows/the-night-is-a-child_145753/

ARMADALE
Based on the novel by Wilkie Collins • Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
"Armadale: A Drama in Three Acts"
http://www.wilkie-collins.info/play_armadale.htm