Few modern plays carry the weight and reputation of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner—a work often described as both a theatrical mountain and a once-in-a-generation achievement. Now, Theater Incognito is bringing Part One of the epic drama back to the stage, under the direction of Ross Haarstad.
“It’s a mountain,” Haarstad said. “It’s something actors love, because Tony gives them such amazing language.” He noted that the decision to take on the play came from both artistic ambition and the strength of local talent. “I just felt I had enough people I knew in town who could audition for it,” he said, pointing to a mix of returning collaborators and new faces in the cast.
The production features several actors familiar to Ithaca audiences, alongside newcomers taking on some of the play’s most demanding roles. Haarstad, who last directed the work in 2001, said the time felt right to revisit it. “It’s 35 years old, and it hasn’t been done for a while here. I just felt a real need to return to it.”
Premiering in 1991, the play was deeply rooted in the AIDS crisis and the political climate of the era. Yet its themes remain strikingly current. “It hasn’t lost any of its immediacy,” Haarstad said. “It’s so interwoven into what Kushner called ‘a gay fantasia on national themes.’ It’s not just about the AIDS crisis, but about how people respond to periods of political conservatism—even paranoia.”
The play’s language is one of its most celebrated features, balancing poetic expression with natural speech. Haarstad credits Kushner’s extensive workshop process with actors for achieving that effect. “He just got to write and write and write,” he said. “He’s a genius—I don’t know what else to say.”
Blending realism with fantasy, the play famously pushes theatrical boundaries. “He kind of pushed open the boundaries of mainstream theater,” Haarstad said, noting that the work earned both the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. “It was a shock across the theater community.”
That boundary-pushing extends to the staging itself, which includes ghosts, ancestral visions, and angels. “The magic should be real stage magic,” Haarstad said, quoting Kushner’s own guidance, “but it’s okay if the wires are showing.”
Rehearsals have moved quickly despite the play’s complexity. “I’ve never had a cast getting off book so quickly,” Haarstad said. “There’s so much depth to these characters, and they’ve been incredibly dedicated.”
While the controversy that once surrounded the play has evolved, it has not entirely faded. “Yes and no,” Haarstad said. “You look at what’s happening now—attacks on transgender people, cuts to HIV funding—and you realize a lot of the issues are still with us.”
At its core, the play brings together a wide cross-section of American identities and beliefs. “I love the fact that he presents people with very different backgrounds who crash together in New York City,” Haarstad said. “It’s not a melting pot—nothing ever melted.”
The production runs March 27 through April 5 at Kitchen Theatre Company, located at 417 West State Street in Ithaca. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., plus a special Wednesday performance on April 1. For more information, visit Kitchen Theatre Company at kitchentheatre.org.