Knox College theatre presents "Angels in America"

The award-winning two-part drama, "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," by Tony Kushner, will be performed by the Knox College Department of Theatre and Dance, February 25-March 6. Part 1, "Millennium Approaches," is directed by Kelly Lynn Hogan, visiting instructor in theatre. Part 2, "Perestroika," is directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz, professor of theatre.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and Knox College alumni, free to Knox College faculty and staff, and free to all students with a valid student I.D. The plays are recommended for mature audiences.

Photos: Above, director Kelly Lynn Hogan with students Alex Lindgren as Joseph Pitt and Chris Bakka as Roy M. Cohn in rehearsal for "Millennium Approaches"; at right, Eleanor Ognacevic; below, set goes up on stage.

The two plays are performed five times each on alternating days over a two-week period, with back-to-back performances on the two Saturdays, February 27 and March 6. Post-show discussions with members of the cast and crew will be held following the performances on March 2, 3, 4 and 5. Ticket information and reservations are available by calling (309) 341-7472. A detailed schedule is available at http://www.knox.edu/x28116.xml

"Angels in America is an epic, nominally about the 1980s AIDS crisis, that uses a masterful blend of fantasy and reality to both depict and transcend the historical setting," said Carlin-Metz, who has won critical praise for her work at Vitalist Theatre in Chicago and served as assistant director for the 1991 premiere at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles of "Widows," adapted for the stage by Kushner and Ariel Dorfman from Dorfman's novel of the same name.

"Angels in America" won Tony Awards for Best Play in 1993 and 1994 and the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. They are presented as part of Knox College's 2010 Repertory Theatre Term. The only program of its kind in the United States, "Rep Term," as it has been known during its 40-year history at Knox, is a ten-week conservatory style, "total immersion" curriculum devoted exclusively to the study and staging of two full-length plays.

"The characters of Kushner's plays struggle against change," Carlin-Metz said. "They are forced to pursue a painful progress from the ancient roots of their respective ancestries, through a corrupt political present, toward the hope of inclusion and respect for all of America's citizens, regardless of sexuality, race, or faith."

"In the first of the two parts, 'Millennium Approaches,' the characters ready themselves to do battle with the deep psychological and societal forces that breed fears of loss and abandonment, illness and death, self and other," said Hogan. A graduate of Knox, previous Rep Term participant and professional actor, Hogan has received acclaim for her stage work in Chicago. "'Millennium Approaches' is the start of a journey -- a terrible, migratory journey of the human spirit that seeks ultimately to find itself at home, alive and vibrant in its divinely sublunary beauty."

Part 2 is titled, "Perestroika,"a Russian word meaning "restructuring," explained Carlin-Metz. "'Perestroika' propels its characters and us toward a confrontation so cataclysmic that each individual is wrenched wittingly or not toward seismic change, and heaven itself is thrust into chaos. Still, there is a hint of solace in the title -- a word of renewal drawn from the politics of the 1980s. It is a talisman of things yet to come, even in 2010, as we close the first decade of the millennium that loomed so uncertainly yet so tantalizingly hopeful when Tony Kushner launched his world renowned plays. The concept of millennium is often thought of in religious contexts as the end of change. Kushner turns that around -- it's a beginning. As The Angel character expresses it, 'The great work begins.'"

Photos: Below and bottom of page, students and theatre faculty, from left in chairs, Margo Shively, costume shop supervisor; Elizabeth Carlin-Metz, professor of theatre and director of "Perestroika"; Neil Blackadder, professor and chair of theatre; Kelly Lynn Hogan, instructor in theatre and director of "Millennium Approaches"; Craig Choma (seated on floor), associate professor of theatre and set designer; Jennifer Smith, associate professor of dance.