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Chapter Four Queer Identitie s i n a Crisi s And the n cam e Angels in America. Ther e i s somethin g predictable , per haps , abou t endin g wit h th e pla y tha t ha s receive d mor e attentio n tha n any ga y o r lesbia n wor k o f th e pas t fiftee n years , an d indeed , mor e attention than any American play of the past half century. Tony Kushner's Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes i s a two-part , seven-hour spectacl e tha t ha s bee n showere d wit h prais e b y ga y an d nongay critic s alike . In 199 3 th e firs t part— Millennium Approaches — won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and received four Tony Awards, including the award s fo r bes t play , bes t director , an d bes t actor . Millennium Approaches was also presented with th e Lambd a Literar y Award for ga y and lesbian drama. The second part, Perestroika, received three Tony Awards in 1994, includin g fo r bes t pla y an d bes t actor . Undoubtedly , thi s unprece dented succes s contribute d t o John Clum' s decisio n t o pu t a stil l fro m Angels in America o n the cover of his study Acting Gay: Male Homosexuality in Modern Drama an d to label his discussion of Kushner's play "Th e Culmination,, (313) . I certainl y agre e tha t Kushner' s pla y merit s praise ; nonetheless , thi s chapter attempt s t o resis t suc h teleologica l thinking . I a m no t simpl y celebrating Angels in America here , a s i f mainstrea m succes s wer e itsel f sufficient fo r ensuring a work's inclusion in the Queer Renaissance , and as if Angels in America wer e thu s someho w th e crownin g glor y o f thi s contemporary literar y an d cultura l movement . A s m y previou s chapte r indicated, i n fact , a purely celebrator y stanc e is in man y way s inimical t o the critica l wor k th e Quee r Renaissanc e advances . Henc e thi s chapte r begins b y considerin g ho w Angels in America stage s quee r identit y an d theory i n way s aki n t o th e othe r quee r work s I hav e bee n examinin g throughout. I argu e tha t Angels in America provide s audience s wit h a demonstration o f how contradictio n an d disruptio n ca n be deployed criti cally an d communally . Focusin g mostl y o n Perestroika, I explor e ho w i55 Kushner queer s tha t particula r concep t t o promote th e performanc e o f a n openly disruptive , contradictory , mingling , and—consequently—hopefu l identity. The performance o f this identity secure s hope by articulating th e messiness an d minglin g tha t th e character s ultimatel y champio n t o a collective identit y tha t ca n an d will b e continuall y reshape d i n th e figh t against AIDS. The chapte r the n attempt s t o provid e a genealogy , o f sorts , fo r thi s queer aesthetic . The secon d half o f the chapte r survey s Sara h Schulman' s fictionalization o f the earl y day s of the AIDS Coalition t o Unleash Powe r (ACT UP ) i n he r nove l People in Trouble, i n orde r t o pu t Kushner' s theories mor e explicitl y int o conversatio n wit h othe r "demonstrations. " AIDS activism premiered i n the streets during the writing an d productio n of Angels in America, an d th e quee r identitie s tha t activist s performe d during thei r "successfu l run " paralle l thos e performe d onstag e i n Kush ner 's "ga y fantasia. " If , a s both Webster's New World Dictionary an d th e American Heritage Dictionary suggest , a fantasia i s "a medley o f familia r tunes," the n Kushner' s...

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