Sept. 25-Oct. 12: 'Angels in America'
Resident Ensemble Players to stage award-winning 'Angels in America'
3:39 p.m., Sept. 22, 2014--The University of Delaware Resident Ensemble Players (REP) opens its 2014-15 season with the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Sept. 25-Oct. 12, in the Thompson Theatre of the Roselle Center for the Arts.
Often lauded as one of the most important plays of the 20th century, Tony Kushner’s epic and multi-faceted exploration examines love, loyalty, identity, and intimacy through the lens of the political and culture climate of the Reagan Administration during the 1980s AIDS crisis.
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Angels in America: Millennium Approaches begins in 1985. Ronald Reagan has been elected to a second term. New York City is in the clutches of a mysterious plague that people are grasping to understand.
Prior, a young man in the trenches of this health crisis, discovers devastating news that his lover, Louis, just cannot accept. Mormon couple Joe and Harper struggle with his identity crisis and her self-medicating Valium habit. Roy Cohn, a notorious lawyer from the McCarthy hearings, is in blustery full-blown denial of his own life-changing predicament.
“Angels is a love story, a political drama, and a biting comedy,” says REP producing artistic director Sanford Robbins. “Even though this play speaks to a specific time and place in our history, its themes and topics are still pertinent.
“While the health crisis of the play’s setting may have changed now with the advent of new and more effective treatments, AIDS remains a very important health concern and it has again become more visible in popular culture with last year’s award-winning movie Dallas Buyers Club and HBO’s recent film of The Normal Heart. It doesn’t take much effort to relate all the themes in Kushner’s work to our lives today.”
The play contains strong sexual situations, explicit language and nudity, and is recommended for mature audiences.
Performances run from Thursday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Oct. 12. Opening night is Saturday, Sept. 27.
Tickets are $23-$29, with discounts for students and seniors adults. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at 302-831-2204, or in person at the Roselle Center for the Arts, 110 Orchard Rd., Newark, Monday through Friday from noon until 5 p.m.
The REP will present free pre-show discussions on Saturday, Oct. 4, and Sunday, Oct. 12, beginning at 1:15 p.m. Ray Peters, assistant director of the UD Honors Program, will discuss the play and the REP production on Oct. 4; REP actor Kathleen Pirkl Tague will discuss her experience with the play on Oct. 12.
Post-performance talk-backs with the actors in Angels in America will take place following the performances on Thursday, Oct. 2, and Thursday, Oct. 9.
The Roselle Center for the Arts is located at 110 Orchard Road in Newark, Delaware. A convenient parking garage is attached to the center.
A complete schedule, directions, and ticket information can be found at the REP’s website or by calling the REP’s box office at 302-831-2204.
About the REP
The Resident Ensemble Players (REP) is a professional theatre company located at the University of Delaware whose mission is to engage audiences throughout the tri-state area with frequent productions of outstanding classic, modern, and contemporary plays performed in a wide variety of styles that celebrate and demonstrate the range, breadth, and ability to transform a full-time ensemble of nationally respected stage actors who have been trained in the same way.
The REP is committed to create future audiences for live theatre by offering its productions at low prices that enable and encourage the attendance of everyone in the region, regardless of income.
Photo by Nadine Howatt