The Tony Kushner "Angels in America" effect - latimes.com
source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-kushner-20100620,0,27679.story
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"Tony Kushner's early-1990s play was of its moment, but its influence is felt today in such plays as 'Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo' and 'The Language Archive...'
...None of these dramatists is setting out to ape Kushner. But structurally and substantively they have learned from him. Most impressively, they have found ways of balancing their anxiety of influence (to borrow Harold Bloom's catchy phrase to describe the Oedipal nature of a writer's relationship to his or her predecessors) with their openness to keen sources of inspiration.
These plays, which strive for an elusive ideal rather than settling for a more commercially viable status quo, aren't likely to follow in the heralded Broadway footsteps of Kushner, who has returned there in a major way only once, with the musical "Caroline, or Change." But they attest to the strength of the example set for them.
Fortunately, as we wait for Kushner's latest play ("The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures") to have its New York unveiling next spring, "Angels" continues to surprise us with the vitality of its afterlife. When I watched the 2003 HBO-miniseries adaptation directed by Mike Nichols, I was struck by how well the characters had endured beyond their chronologically specific crises. True, it helps to have an ensemble featuring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker and Emma Thompson, but the roles invite actors to wholly inhabit them with their textured life.
If any more proof of the relevance of Kushner's masterwork is needed, look what's become one of the hottest tickets in New York next fall: the Signature Theater Company's off-Broadway production of "Angels," both parts performed in rep as part of its season devoted to the playwright. The chance to revisit history is certainly one of the attractions, but searing drama is what gets a box office buzzing."
...None of these dramatists is setting out to ape Kushner. But structurally and substantively they have learned from him. Most impressively, they have found ways of balancing their anxiety of influence (to borrow Harold Bloom's catchy phrase to describe the Oedipal nature of a writer's relationship to his or her predecessors) with their openness to keen sources of inspiration.
These plays, which strive for an elusive ideal rather than settling for a more commercially viable status quo, aren't likely to follow in the heralded Broadway footsteps of Kushner, who has returned there in a major way only once, with the musical "Caroline, or Change." But they attest to the strength of the example set for them.
Fortunately, as we wait for Kushner's latest play ("The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures") to have its New York unveiling next spring, "Angels" continues to surprise us with the vitality of its afterlife. When I watched the 2003 HBO-miniseries adaptation directed by Mike Nichols, I was struck by how well the characters had endured beyond their chronologically specific crises. True, it helps to have an ensemble featuring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker and Emma Thompson, but the roles invite actors to wholly inhabit them with their textured life.
If any more proof of the relevance of Kushner's masterwork is needed, look what's become one of the hottest tickets in New York next fall: the Signature Theater Company's off-Broadway production of "Angels," both parts performed in rep as part of its season devoted to the playwright. The chance to revisit history is certainly one of the attractions, but searing drama is what gets a box office buzzing."
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