Saturday, May 26, 2012

Angles In America

“Angels In America” is a second-rate play written by a second-rate playwright who happens to be gay, and because he has written a play about being gay, and about AIDS, no one—and I mean no one—is going to call “Angels In America” the overwrought, coarse, posturing, formulaic mess that it is.

Lee Siegel, writing in The New Republic in 2003

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I, for one, would be happy to call both play and playwright second-rate—except neither play nor playwright rises to that level.
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2 comments:

  1. tony68May 26, 2012 11:40 AM

    I saw the TV series based on the play, on DVD, a few years ago. I never got through the thing. The play is an abomination, and I would not rate it at any level in the positive range.

    I think, however, that "Angles in America" is a very, very fine play. The actor - I forget his name - was superb as the mathematician Euclid.

    __________

    Alex Ross wrote yesterday on his blog, "The Rest is 'Roids," that he was "mildly dissatisfied" with the "Salome" at Carnegie Thursday night. Perhaps he was so because he couldn't find Hitler in the audience.

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  2. Drew80May 26, 2012 3:24 PM

    I just read what you mentioned.

    I don’t read Ross—he has the mind and judgment and perspective of a 13-year-old—and what I just read about the Cleveland Orchestra’s “Salome” was fully worthy of a 13-year-old.

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