Angels in America to be performed at Wheaton College

The Department of Theatre Studies and Dance is proud to present Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning play, Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Part One: Millenium Approaches on November 13, 14 and 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Weber Theatre of Watson Fine Arts. The production is directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre and Wheaton alumna, Stephanie Burlington '97 and features, Rudy Blanco '06, Amelia Campbell '04, Ben Dzamba '04, Mycah Hogan '07, Matthew McDonald '04, Ryan O'Toole '04, Caitlin Stewart-Swift '06 and Royale Weber-Flink '04.
Angels in America is a powerful and dramatic commentary on the political, religious and social issues facing contemporary America during the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in the eighties. It is a story of two men facing the same fate and how each of them and the people in their lives struggle to find meaning and hope when all appears hopeless. Director Stephanie Burlington commented recently on her motivation to direct this project,
''I began looking for plays that dealt with these issues and that year Angels in America went to Broadway. I saw the New York City production in the spring of 1993 the same weekend that the gay Olympics were being held. The theatre was filled with people who were struggling to find ways to process the grief, mourning, and the frustration we had experienced for the ten years prior. Experiencing the play with this group of people in that time in place was a religious event for me. The characters in Angels in America reached out to us and validated our lives with humor, honesty, and sometimes-painful
storytelling. It felt as though the play unified us in our communal fight acting against AIDS and discrimination. It was a call to duty. I left Angels in America knowing I was a different person and wanting to tell its story to as many people as possible. It's been ten years since then and now I have my chance to share Tony Kushner's story with the community here at Wheaton.''
Tickets are $10.00 general admission and $5.00 for students and seniors. To reserve seats call the Wheaton Ticket Office at 508.286.3575. For directions to Wheaton College, go to www.wheatoncollege.edu/About/Driving.html. For a complete online arts calendar, go to www.wheatoncollege.edu/arts. For more information and updates call the arts information line at 508.286.3300 or email arts@wheatoncollege.edu.