Since the mid-1980s, “perestroika” has been one of the most popular Russian words to enter English-speaking culture.
The word literally means “the act of rebuilding,” according to russianminds.com, and is used to identify the period from 1980 to 1981, characterized by the comprehensive political reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev. The term also relates to the period in the mid-1980s when the AIDS crisis exploded and was used as the title of a play set in that era.
“Angels in America — Part Two: Perestroika,” the second half of the Tony award-winning play written by Tony Kushner, begins Nov. 2 on the main stage at Robinson Theatre and kicks off the 2001-2002 University Theatre season.
Performances of last spring’s “Part One: Millennium Approaches” have also been scheduled for those who missed the first half or want to see it again.
Director John Schmor, also an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, said the play is centered around eight different plot lines, but because it is so “beautifully balanced,” the audience won’t be confused.
Kushner tells the story in two parts of a group of New Yorkers trying to make sense of the world that is falling apart around them. They face both political and personal crisis during the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
“There is so much to it,” Schmor said. “The play speaks on a lot of different levels to a lot of different people.”
Schmor said he chose the play because it blends “fantasia and realism” and added that it is both entertaining and provocative.
“Doing Part One last spring was hard enough — Part Two is more wildly complicated — funnier, sexier, visually more magical and surprising,” Schmor said.
Prior, played by Matthew Woodburn, is a man living with AIDS whose lover, Louis, played by Nate Bloch, has left him to become involved with Joe. Joe, who is played by Rick Brown, is an ex-Mormon and political conservative whose wife, Harper, played by Kim Bates, is slowly having a nervous breakdown.
“(Perestroika) especially follows Prior’s journey and what he discovers about the blessings of change,” Schmor said.
Schmor said some of the script’s strange references to New York City may cause the audience to think about the events of Sept. 11, which the cast had not expected. He said some people call this three-hour play “an American epic” because it addresses politics, religion, sexuality, disease, relationships and more.
But even though the play’s length has the potential to be a deterrence, Schmor said these days the length of plays is changing.
“Plays are getting longer, and I think it is because people don’t mind being inside a story for that long,” he said.
There have been three cast replacements to the original group who performed “Part One” last spring. They include: Darlene Dadras as Angel, Elizabeth Helman as Hannah and Iran Parker as Belize. The fact that there are only eight members in the cast means everyone — crew and actors — are working all the time.
Schmor said this is the second two-part play he has directed since he began teaching at the University. His first was the seven-hour production of Nicholas Nickleby, which he co-directed two years ago.
“It’ll be a long time before I do another two-part show,” he said.
Helman said he encourages people to attend the play because they will be “challenged in a way that won’t happen watching television.
“I was a fan of this play long before I was ever cast in it,” he said. “Kushner has created a wonderful piece of theater — in spite of many great tragedies presented in this story, it is also reaffirming and funny.”
Helman added that playing Hannah has been a test of her acting abilities because her character is “hard, often stubborn and also very sad.” Bloch said taking on the role of Louis means “summoning extreme emotions — grief, intense anger, guilt” and identifying with this character, who immerses himself in politics, history and millions of useless bits of trivia. “I love playing Louis because I understand what it’s like to have all these chaotic contradictions screaming in your brain, and at the same time feeling very guilty because you don’t know how to deal with them, and you don’t know what you really want,” Bloch said.
Schmor said the extensive, time-consuming rehearsals have demanded that the cast take advantage of as much sleep as possible, limit their partying and steer clear of sick friends because the parts they play are irreplaceable.
A new budget for “Part Two” has allowed some additions to the set and visual effects, Schmor said. A professional stage-flying company from Las Vegas rigged a flying mechanism that will be used for Angel’s character.
Schmor said the time and energy dedicated to learning how to use the technical equipment has been difficult but necessary because flying is traditionally a part of the play.
“The show looks technically simple, but represents the strength and range of the program’s best resources,” Schmor said.
The audience can also expect more sexual content and “crazier” elements in “Perestroika” than in “Millennium Approaches,” Schmor said, but it also offers more comedy and music than “Part One.” Schmor said people may be surprised by the play’s gay content.
Bloch said he hopes people will come away with a better understanding of what it means to live in a homosexual community.
“I hope people will realize that being gay isn’t dirtier, sweeter or nicer, more dangerous or less ‘normal’ than being straight is,” Bloch said.
Both parts of the play contain verbal and visual content that some audience members may find offensive, and children are not advised to attend.
“The play may be offending some people,” Schmor said. “It is pretty critical of America and what we say and what we follow through with.”