Welcome back to 1985, when Ronald Reagan took office a second time, AIDS was a little understood pandemic, and people felt free to be politically incorrect.
“Angels in America” is a multi-award-winning drama by playwright Tony Kushner presented in two acts: “Millennium Approaches” and “Perestroika.” Each part spans several hours over several days. Absorbing the full weight of the marathon story is impossible if only watching a portion.
But, really, where else are you going? Launch your Zoom app, shake yourself a quarantini and settle in for an absorbing, interwoven saga from Harrisburg’s Open Stage—presented in the new, social distancing-appropriate format of online theater.
A sophisticated slant marks this script, introducing an ensemble cast of city slickers and transplanted Mormon archetypes from Salt Lake City. For example, men with AIDS talk through the gravity of their own mortality, characters un-closet themselves, and unlikely friends come together despite their opposing political leanings. Every character is tormented in some way—by their sexuality, by AIDS and by the politics surrounding these issues, all intertwined in the midst of Reagan-era America.
The play’s religious symbolism is weighty, from Jacob wrestling an angel, interacting with heavenly figures and voices, to Jewish elders speaking plainly. Any humor in this tragedy is caustic and likely unintentional.
I’m not convinced that the script truly captured the fear associated with AIDS back then, when people seemed unsure how it was transmitted. It was only later, after the U.S. government poured billions into research and treatments, that people began to relax somewhat, as AIDS no longer meant certain death.
In 1985, we certainly would not have had the luxury of viewing a live theater production over our Commodore 64Ks. Even if Zoom had existed, our AT&T modems never would have had enough bandwidth. The irony grips thicker with the fact that we’re watching a character drama about a pandemic during another cloistered world pandemic.
The old saying holds true: “The show must go on.” Open Stage Director Stuart Landon said that using this alternative medium is the “best chance to understand this epic story.”
Live theater is always better, but the actors resiliently found ways to tell the story, taking care to arrange backgrounds in their living rooms, implement fun costumes and props within their head frames, and adjust lighting to shift focus. I had to imagine special effects like snow or angel wings flapping.
A narrator explained the stage direction that became lost in translation, like dancing or fistfights. To have that same narrator glaze over uncomfortable sex scenes—thank you, Zoom!
Zoom theater provided an intimacy normally lost from the cheap seats. I could see facial expressions in the Brady Bunch-like squares that would have been exaggerated onstage. Sometimes Zoom even froze them for me.
You will need to give the actors a certain amount of grace, the same way you forgive your co-worker who forgets to hit their un-mute button before talking. And the shouting scenes made me wish I had not opted for headphones.
Yet, the format offered some advantages, too.
For example, Stacey Werner, who played multiple roles, did not miss the quick changes between scenes.
Another multiple role-player, Karen Ruch, said the home venue, “allowed me to be vulnerable in my safest place, which is where I live.”
Sean Adams, who played Louis, said the format, “helped shake me out of old habits and try new things.”
Landon filmed himself in the same spot where he goes night-night.
“I think focusing on the work has been a morale boost for all of us,” he said. “We all love the theater, and we love this show. Having this goal, even as the target keeps moving, has been life-giving.”
No matter the media, it’s exciting to connect to live theater. You can watch in your jammies, with no usher tapping you on the shoulder if you crinkle your candy wrapper.
You can also hang around for the interactive portion, eavesdropping on the rest of the “audience.”
“Angels in America” runs through the Zoom app April 17 through May 10. Tickets and all access information are available through Open Stage’s website, https://www.openstagehbg.com/.
