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“Hello and Good Morning”

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“Hello and Good Morning” When Susan Brown step out, obscured by Rabbi beard and hat, to utter those words and open Angels in America this Saturday, it is a milestone moment. 26 years, 4 months and 2 days (yes, exactly) after opening on Broadway the Angels have finally flown home, via London. There’s a sense that once again in this play’s history, London quietly created something quite special out of this iconic American play. It’s right that it’s Brown who opens the play. The formidable, often overlooked actress Broadway probably has never heard of but should have. Because despite the star line up above the title there’s a quiet, yes quite British confidence, about a production filled with non-Americans taking on this icon of British theatre. Much like the doubling in the play, the original London production was a ‘double’ of the Broadway (and Los Angeles) productions happening simultaneously.   And yet, through quirks of logistics, the National Theatre en...
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Lee Pace, Labels and 'What are you doing writing about this play?'

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I really tried to stay out of some of the debacle around a certain magazine article. But I have always had strong opinions on the 'shoulds and shouldn'ts around this play. And I also have strong opinions on the labels our so-called community forces on us.  So in a blog of two halves, the professional and personal here is my write-back to that W magazine interview with Lee Pace.   The first half relates to this play. I've been around the block with it enough times to know many people have strong opinions on who can and can't be in/work on/like this play. Firstly, the only person with any say in two of those categories is Tony Kushner. The latter nobody has say on. As a woman, born in 1984, in the UK who through virtue of those things does not identify as a gay American Man, I've had my share of criticism for working on the play. The idea that somehow my 'understanding' or 'love' of it was different. That is was somehow driven of som...
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A kind of painful progress...Angels in America and me.

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Almost a week ago now, Prior Walter bid the Lyttleton theatre ‘More Life’ one last time. Twenty-four years earlier it had opened next door in the Cottesloe. And some 14 or so years earlier they Angel first crashed into my life. Since then it’s been a labour of love, of 100, 000 words of PhD thesis and thousands more words in blog posts, message board comments, emails, tweets and arguments with wanker academics who obviously know better. And finally, this year, hours of conversation with my favourite director, hours of talking to an audience at the NT, kind words with the cast (and hugs!) and words committed to the programme. It’s been one hell of a ride, it hasn’t always been easy, but finally all the work to this point feels worth it. I keep coming back to Harper’s final monologue, ‘In this world there is a kind of painful progress, a longing for what’s left behind, and dreaming ahead.’ And as much as I’m already longing for it what this production also gave me is a chance to...
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