Angels in America: Perestroika
Projection Designer: Stefani Byrd
Wagner Theatre, La Jolla, California, September 2016
In Part Two of Tony Kushner's Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia On National Themes, the angel reveals to Prior Walter that Heaven is a beautiful city that resembles San Francisco, but that God, bored with his angels, has disappeared. As Prior wrestles with Heaven and his illness, the other characters struggle for racial, sexual and political justice, as well as a feeling of hope, in the tumultuous 1980s.
Perestroika is very much about finding God (among other things) in the middle space: the space between the action onstage and the audience, the analog and the digital, or even the earthly and the heavenly. This production offers an intimate and dynamic experience that in true queerness blurs the lines of binaries and encourages everyone – even those suffering with the worst illnesses or the most painful heartaches – to not dwell on an outcome but rather live in the interim.
The Cast
Louis Ironson – Martin Meccouri
Prior Walter – Kyle Hester
Joe Pitt – Hunter Spangler
Harper Pitt – Katherine Ko
Roy Cohn – Sean McIntyre
Belize – Terrance White
Hannah Pitt – Caroline Siewert
Henry/Emily/Ethel Rosenberg – Mary Glen Fredrick
The Angel – Janet Fiki
Percussionist – Fiona Digney
The Creative Team
Director – Jon Reimer
Scenic Designer – Anna Robinson
Projections Designer – Stefani Byrd
Lighting Designer – Joel Britt
Costume Designer – Junior Bergman
Sound Designer – Steven Leffue
Production Stage Manager – Kasson Marroquin