Tony Kushner’s Angels in America is one of the most culturally significant pieces of gay theatre in history. Set during the AIDS crisis of the mid- to late-1980s, the play explores issues of gay identity, disease, economic/political privilege, race and ethnicity, and religion, all set within an apocalyptic and messianic framework. The Penn State theatre only performed Part One: Millennium Approaches in this production, but even just the first half of the full show is an incredible experience.

The play focuses largely around three strained relationships: Prior Walter and Louis Ironson’s romantic relationship, Joseph Pitt and Harper Pitt’s marriage, and Roy Cohn’s politico-legal mentoring of Joseph Pitt. Louis and Prior’s relationship erodes when Prior reveals that he has AIDS. Eventually Louis abandons Prior, spiraling into a self-consuming cycle of guilt as Prior gets progressively sicker. The Mormon couple Joe and Harper struggle with his repressed homosexuality, which likely contributes to her emotional problems and Vicodin addiction that leads to regular dissociative episodes. And Roy, a ruthless lawyer dedicated to self-preservation and the Reaganite dream tries to mold the ethically-oriented Joe in his own image, even as Roy represses the knowledge of his own AIDS infection because AIDS was (erroneously) seen as a disease only gay men and drug addicts got, and Roy defines himself as a straight man (because he has power, in contrast to gays who have none) who has sex with men. Against this background, Prior begins to hear angelic voices and eventually has visitations by two ancestors also named Prior Walter (a name which goes back beyond the Norman conquest of England). They warn him that something is coming, something that will break history wide open—as the spirit of Ethel Rosenberg tells Roy). The play ends with the messianic arrival of an angel announcing that the great work is about to begin.

The Penn State production, directed by Rick Lombardo, got off to a rather rocky start the night I was there—though that was an aberration. The technical difficult after the first scene definitely threw the performance off for a bit. The second scene, with Roy (Ken Baltin) and Joe (Justin Bees), was wooden and awkward with the timing not quite being natural. That carried over into the next scene, with Joe and Harper (Clara Rose Hanahan). But when the show shifted to Louis (Ty Kunzelman) and Prior (Cameron Pillitteri), their performances lifted the whole show.

Pilliterri was, without a doubt the standout performer, and acting across from him seemed to strengthen every other performer—all of whom soon overcame the initial awkwardness created by the technical interruption. Pilliterri’s performance was a tour de force, bringing joy, cynicism, despair, rage, and resigned irony in the exact measure that particular scenes called for them. For instance, the world weariness and melancholy sarcasm of the scene where Prior is checked over by the nurse was pitch perfect.

The only performance I didn’t enjoy was the rabbi (Catherine Crimmins). Crimmins was better in some of her other parts, especially as Roy’s doctor Henry. The rabbi’s Russian/NY Jewish accent had moments where it was convincing, but overall it wasn’t persuasive. The pronunciation was hit or miss, and the timing did not persuade me that Crimmins was an elderly New York Jewish man.

One thing that did work really well in the production was the sets, which involved tall angular buildings in the background and angled walls or columns that moved on or off further down stage. The angles reminded me of a German expressionist film. They suggest the difficulty of building solid relationships, solid foundations, as the frames of the performance tilted as though sinking unevenly into the ground. This parallels how relationships in the play strain and bend over conflicting desires. Of course, the less insightful—though possibly equally accurate—read is that the slanted angles mirror the characters, virtually none of whom are straight.