Tony Kushner (1) (1956–)

Millennium Approaches: 4.5 Stars. This play is so vast and beautiful yet ugly and gritty. It elates and disgusts--terrifies and intrigues. It poses questions that many of us ask and that many of us are too afraid to ask. It is the most realistic fantasy of life in play form that I have ever read and will always have a special place in my heart.

Perestroika: 5 Stars. Just wow. After having to read Millennium Approaches for a class, I decided to read Perestroika out of curiosity; but I never imagined it could be so...vast, so absolutely beautiful. The progression of the characters both in Perestroika alone and in the work as a whole is just riveting. No character is static, which kept my mind turning, trying to come to terms with each of them. I love the reality of their emotions. The reality of anger, of fear, of abandonment, of insane distancing. It all meshes together so well in a shower of emotions and ideologies and paradigms. Honestly, it's just hard to describe how much I enjoyed this play. Even the use of sex as a metaphor is handled so tactfully and candidly that it didn't turn me away from the play but really emphasized the tones and themes Kushner tried to present. The strongest part, however, was definitely the ending. The hope that just poured out of that last scene brought tears to my eyes, because it wasn't some fantasy hope filled with rainbows and unicorns, it was the hope of someone who knows that life sucks sometimes and that crap hits the fan unexpectedly sometimes, but that despite it all we can still keep moving forward. That sentiment is the most important thing I will take away from the entirety of Angels in America.… (more)

Brundibar is based on a 1938 Czech opera for children that was performed fifty-five times by the children of Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp. When Aninku and Pepicek discover one morning that their mother is sick, they rush to town for milk to make her better. Their attempt to earn money by singing is thwarted by a bullying, bellowing hurdy-gurdy grinder, Brundibar, who tyrannizes the town square and chases all other street musicians away. Befriended by three intelligent talking animals and three hundred helpful schoolkids, brother and sister sing for the money to buy the milk, defeat the bully, and triumphantly return home.… (more)