Angels in America, Parts 1 and 2 by Tony Kushner is a now 30-year-old epic that resonates like a church bell struck seconds ago. Set in the mid-1980s, its characters are mostly gay, some have AIDS, they’re Mormon, Jewish, Mayflower descendants, and they include historic figures like Cold War-era prosecutor Roy Cohn and convicted spy Ethel Rosenberg. It’s the definition of a “sprawling drama” that captures a full range of life’s emotions.
For this production that runs May 1 to May 26, Portland Stage collaborated with Dramatic Repertory Company, founded by Keith Powell Beyland in 2010. Powell Beyland is co-directing with Peter Brown, artistic director at Fenix Theatre Company. The cast and crew will return for Part 2 this October.
Powell Beyland is a stroke survivor. He was present at the interview, while his wife, Vanessa Beyland, and Brown provided interpretation for spoken word. This interview was edited for clarity and length.
Case study of one, but Angels in America was the only theatrical text I was assigned in college English classes besides Shakespeare. I’ve always seen it as canonical western literature, but also, I was born in 1986.
PETER BROWN: Coming out of the AIDS crisis in the 80s, gay people were so vilified. Then it’s 1993 and here’s this very gay, very long play and it walks off with all the Tonys! This is four years before Ellen DeGeneres comes out [as her character on Ellen] on television, five years before Will and Grace premieres in 1998, and then that was just a few weeks before Matthew Shepard was killed in Wyoming. Its place in history is a testament to how brilliant the language is. And, I mean, our former President [Trump] is a protege of Roy Cohn. You can see him in how Roy operates in the play—never admit anything, fight it until your dying breath. I don’t know that Angels will ever not feel contemporary.
What’s your favorite moment that you’re putting together for the show?
KEITH POWELL BEYLAND: The angel. [Which—spoiler—enters in the last scene of Part 1.]
BROWN: There are about 30 scenes in the play building to it. It’s just epic. Angels is one of Keith’s favorite plays in the entire world. You saw the original five times on Broadway, right?
POWELL BEYLAND Yep, yep.
VANESSA BEYLAND: There’s a framed Broadway window card in our upstairs hallway from when it opened. So, when Anita brought this up as a possible collaboration, Keith, you may have said, “Let me think about it,” but inside it was like, “Yes. 100%. Yes, doing it.”
Tell us more about Dramatic Repertory Company. Your history is full of “Maine premieres.”
BEYLAND: We started DRC in 2010 after shifting to Portland from New York City. At the time, it seemed the more challenging, newer works we saw there hadn’t really made it to Maine, or at least not in volume. I’m not working on this production, but I know every single person that is involved in Keith’s process is valued. If someone has an idea, bring it on. A play is a living breathing thing that is better with our authentic selves.
BROWN: DRC’s aesthetic is “if we have a good script and we have good actors, then we can make anything happen.” So, moving to Portland Stage, it’s amazing—to have more than 24 lights and for Anita [Stewart, Artistic Director] to design the set for us. DRC could not do this production without Portland Stage, but I think it’s safe to say they couldn’t really do it without us because of the size of the cast, which is all locally based.
My kid is 5, so I recognized Robbie Harrison (Prior Walter) from the Children’s Theatre of Maine as Corduroy the Bear. His range!
BROWN: Robbie is doing an amazing job. The core cast requires four incredibly talented young actors, and they all have day jobs, unlike the visiting artists. So, we started rehearsals back in March, using our evenings and weekends. I think the audience is going to be blown away by the talent that exists right here.
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