1865年，持续四年的美国内战进入了尾声，亚伯拉罕·林肯总统（丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯 Daniel Day-Lewis 饰）也迎来了他的第二个任期。在生命和任期的最后四个月，林肯一直在致力于一场比内战还艰苦的战役：推动宪法第13修正案在国会的通过。该法案将从法理上永久废除奴隶制在美国的存在。然而修正案提出的时机异常糟糕：废奴思想缺少人民的响应；国会为保守势力把持；支持废奴的激进派也不满林肯的作风。当分裂出去的南部州表达了重回谈判桌和终结内战的意愿后，林肯发现他面临一个两难的痛苦决定：是获得妥协的和平，还是坚守内心的道德？是结束奴隶制，还是结束战争？

这是一部关于政治、复仇的真实的电影。1972年在联邦德国举办的第20届奥运会上，巴勒斯坦的极端恐怖组织“黑色九月”闯进了奥运村绑架了11名以色列运动员，以此要挟以色列释放被关押的该组织成员。
联邦德国的警察草率对待了这次绑架事件，他们直接冲进了恐怖组织的巢穴企图武装营救 人质，孰料导致了11名以色列运动员全部遇难!
事件发生之后，以色列“摩萨德”高层迅速训练了一批特工，展开了对“黑色九月”组织以及相关的巴勒斯坦人血腥的报复……

故事发生於20世纪80年代中期的纽约，《千禧年降临》的第一幕介绍了中心人物路易·爱恩森（Louis Ironson）。他是一名犹太人，与同性恋爱人普莱尔·沃尔特（Prior Walter）住在一起。但普莱尔後来发现自己患有艾滋病，社会在当时对此病仍然知之甚少，路易无法承受住巨大的压力便抛弃了对方搬了出去。与此同时，在城市中另一方，也有一位名为乔·皮特（Joe Pitt）的共和党律师。他是一位摩门教徒，同时也在尽力压制自己的同性恋倾向。剧中，臭名昭著的麦卡锡主义者罗依·康（Roy Cohn）为他提供了一份十分有前途的工作，而乔并没有立刻接受，因为他担心自己服用安定上瘾的妻子哈珀（Harper）。
随着剧情发展，普莱尔发现经常有鬼魂和天使来拜访他，还被这些人称为先知；乔在自己的宗教信仰和性取向的矛盾中痛苦挣扎；路易十分後悔抛弃了爱人，时刻受到良心的折磨；乔的妈妈汉娜（Hannah）得知儿子是同性恋後搬到纽约，要照顾儿媳；而罗依·康本人也是一位同志，因为艾滋病住进了医院，负责护理他的护士是一位名为伯利兹（Belize）的黑人同志，他是普莱尔的好友，原来从事过女装表演；最后，原来冷战时期因为罗依·康的幕後操纵而被美国司法处以极刑的共产党人艾瑟尔·罗森堡（Ethel Rosenberg）也化为鬼魂来報復他。
全剧充满了黑色幽默与悲剧色彩，对白极为出色，在一些需要特殊效果衬托的地方展现出很浓的戏剧风格。大多数演员都一人分饰几角，比如扮演普莱尔的护士的演员，也同时扮演美国天使。剧中对圣经和美国政治、经济、文化、种族、环境现象有非常多的引用，也有发生在南极和天堂的戏份，也涉及了旧金山的大地震与纽约中央公园中的毕士大（Bethesda）天使像。
很多观众与评论家都认为此剧是美国近年来最有影响力的戏剧之一。

上世纪八十年代中，美国处于列根的保守政权之下，正经历爱滋病危机。《天使在美国》正讲述在这种社会背景下，一群纽约客徘徊生与死、爱与性、天堂与地狱之间，挣扎求存、奋斗的故事。东尼．库什纳（Tony Kushner）的《天使在美国》可谓近几十年来最重要的戏剧之一。此剧共分两部分，总长逾七小时，于1992年至1993年间在伦敦英国国家剧院首演，并赢得普立兹戏剧奖等多项大奖。该剧有趣又感人，尖锐又富有深刻洞见，以充满想象力的方法，探讨爱、痛苦、疾病、死亡、信仰、政治等主题，即使在25年后的今天，仍然发人深省。本次复排版的演员阵容鼎盛，荷里活及英国剧界的一线演员纷纷登场。饰演主角普莱尔的安德鲁加菲（Andrew Garfield）曾获奥斯卡最佳演员提名，代表作包括电影《蜘蛛侠：惊世现新》（The Amazing Spider-Man）及《钢锯岭》（Hacksaw Ridge）。其他主要演员包括主演BBC剧集《宝拉》（Paula）的丹妮斯高弗（Denise Gough），曾演出《星球大战：原力觉醒》（Star Wars: The Force Awakens）的占士麦卡德（James McArdle），曾演出英国国家剧院《高校男生》（The History Boys）的罗素托维（Russell Tovey），以及演出音乐剧《金牌监制》（The Producers）和电影《假凤虚凰》(The Birdcage) 的尼芬连恩（Nathan Lane）。本剧导演玛丽安．艾略特（Marianne Elliott）是奥利花奖及东尼奖双料得主。她为英国国家剧院导演的《深夜小狗神秘习题》（The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time）及《雷霆战驹》（War Horse）都大获成功。这次，她为我们谱写了一曲感人至深的人性赞歌。

上世纪八十年代中，美国处于列根的保守政权之下，正经历爱滋病危机。《天使在美国》正讲述在这种社会背景下，一群纽约客徘徊生与死、爱与性、天堂与地狱之间，挣扎求存、奋斗的故事。东尼．库什纳（Tony Kushner）的《天使在美国》可谓近几十年来最重要的戏剧之一。此剧共分两部分，总长逾七小时，于1992年至1993年间在伦敦英国国家剧院首演，并赢得普立兹戏剧奖等多项大奖。该剧有趣又感人，尖锐又富有深刻洞见，以充满想象力的方法，探讨爱、痛苦、疾病、死亡、信仰、政治等主题，即使在25年后的今天，仍然发人深省。

史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格日前确认他将翻拍百老汇经典音乐剧《西区故事》，曾与其合作《林肯》的编剧托尼·库什纳目前正在创作剧本。关于影片的演员阵容和档期尚未确定。
斯皮尔伯格日前在与《好莱坞报道者》的一次访谈中证实了他将执导改编《西区故事》这一消息。他表示已得到了1961年奥斯卡最佳影片《西区故事》的翻拍版权，曾与其合作《林肯》和《慕尼黑惨案》的编剧托尼·库什纳正在创作剧本。该片将由FOX和MGM共同担纲制作。影片的卡司和上映日期目前尚不确定。
斯皮尔伯格还透露自己在过去的十年间一直惦记着翻拍《西区故事》，15年前他已经开始着手获得改编版权。
其实斯皮尔伯格一直对《西区故事》怀有浓厚的热情。早在2014年，他就曾提及对《西区故事》的喜爱，并表示有意翻拍。当时他曾谈到“西区故事是我最喜欢的百老汇音乐剧之一，它有着伟大的旋律和歌词，它一直在我的脑海里”。
《西区故事》最初是1957年首演的百老汇经典音乐剧，取材于莎士比亚的戏剧《罗密欧与朱丽叶》，故事背景设定在五十年代的纽约贫民区，在剧中主人公的名字变成了托尼和玛丽亚。1961年罗伯特·怀斯和杰罗姆·罗宾斯将该剧改编为同名音乐电影，由娜塔利·伍德和理查德·贝梅尔主演。该片在当年的奥斯卡颁奖礼上一举囊获了包括最佳影片奖在内的十项大奖。

故事松散地基于斯皮尔伯格的人生经历，主要聚焦男主角的成长时期，以及他和父母的关系，其名字不叫史蒂文，但和其一样住在亚利桑那州凤凰城。斯皮尔伯格50年代末到60年代初住在凤凰城，他在面对反犹太主义的同时，也在用父亲的8毫米摄像机拍摄家庭电影和冒险电影。高中时期斯皮尔伯格一家搬到了加州，后来父母离婚，他和父亲一起居住，与父亲的紧张关系也成为他打造《E.T. 外星人》《铁钩船长》《侏罗纪公园》《林肯》《猫鼠游戏》等电影的灵感。

斯皮尔伯格将同编剧托尼·库什纳再携手，重启宗教题材作品《埃德加多·摩尔塔拉的绑架》。马克·里朗斯也将化身教皇庇护九世。影片预计将于2017年初《玩家一号》完成后开机，档期基本锁定奥斯卡颁奖季期间。

The play is set in Germany in 1932 and 1933, and concerns a group of friends caught up in the events of the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The plot is centered on a woman named Agnes Eggling, a middle-aged actress, and all of the action takes place in her apartment. The action is occasionally interrupted by scenes featuring Zillah, a young woman in the 1980s living in Long Island who believes that Reagan is becoming too much like Hitler. In the version performed by the New York Shakespeare Festival, Zillah has moved to Berlin. Zillah has fled to Germany out of frustration and anger at the growing power of the Republican Party in America during the 1980s. The play was based on Bertolt Brecht's 1938 work The Private Life of the Master Race.

The play is set in the 17th century in Europe during the Thirty Years' War. The Recruiting Officer and Sergeant are introduced, both complaining about the difficulty of recruiting soldiers to the war. A canteen woman named Anna Fierling (Mother Courage) enters pulling a cart that she uses to trade with soldiers and make profits from the war. She has three children, Eilif, Kattrin, and Swiss Cheese. The sergeant negotiates a deal with Mother Courage while Eilif is led off by the recruiting officer. One of her children is now gone.

Two years from then, Mother Courage argues with a Protestant General's cook over a capon, or chicken. At the same time, Eilif is congratulated by the General for killing peasants and slaughtering their cattle. Eilif and his mother sing "The Fishwife and the Soldier". Mother Courage scolds her son for taking risks that could have got him killed and slaps him across the face.

Three years later, Swiss Cheese works as an army paymaster. The camp prostitute, Yvette Pottier, sings "The Fraternization Song". Mother Courage uses this song to warn Kattrin about involving herself with soldiers. Before the Catholic troops arrive, the Cook and Chaplain bring a message from Eilif. Swiss Cheese hides the regiment's paybox from invading soldiers. Mother Courage & co. hurriedly switch their insignia from Protestant to Catholic. Swiss Cheese is captured by the Catholics while attempting to return the paybox to his General. Mother Courage deals her cart to get money to try and barter with the soldiers to free her son. She takes too long trying negotiate small amount of money for herself, the Chaplin, and Kattrin to live from and Swiss Cheese is shot dead with 11 bullets. To acknowledge the body could be fatal, so Mother Courage does not acknowledge it and it is thrown into a pit.

Later, Mother Courage waits outside the General's tent in order to register a complaint and sings the "Song of Great Capitulation" to a young soldier waiting for the General as well. The soldier is angry that he has not been paid and also wishes to complain. The song persuades the soldier that complaining would be unwise, and Mother Courage (reaching the same conclusion) decides she also does not want to complain.

When Catholic General Tilly's funeral approaches, Mother Courage discusses with the Chaplain about whether the war will continue. The Chaplain then suggests to Mother Courage that she marry him, but she rejects his proposal. Mother Courage curses the war because she finds Kattrin disfigured after being raped by the clerk while collecting more merchandise.

At some point about here Mother Courage is again following the Protestant army.

Two peasants wake Mother Courage up and try to sell merchandise to her while they find out that peace has broken out. The Cook appears and creates an argument between Mother Courage and the Chaplain. Mother Courage departs for the town while Eilif enters, dragged in by soldiers. Eilif is executed for killing peasants but his mother never finds out. When the war begins again, the Cook and Mother Courage start their own business.

The seventeenth year of the war marks a point where there is no food and no supplies. The Cook inherits an inn in Utrecht and suggests to Mother Courage that she operate it with him, but he refuses to harbour Kattrin. It is a very small inn. Mother Courage will not leave her daughter and they part ways with the Cook. Mother Courage and Kattrin pull the wagon by themselves.

The Catholic army attacks the small Protestant town of Halle while Mother Courage is away from town, trading. Kattrin is woken up by a search party that is taking peasants as guides. Kattrin fetches a drum from the cart, climbs onto the roof, and beats it in an attempt to awake the townspeople. Though the soldiers shoot Kattrin, she succeeds in waking up the town.

Early in the morning, Mother Courage sings to her daughter's corpse, has the peasants bury her and hitches herself to the cart. The cart rolls lighter now because there are no more children and very little merchandise left.

The play is set in the 17th century in Europe during the Thirty Years' War. The Recruiting Officer and Sergeant are introduced, both complaining about the difficulty of recruiting soldiers to the war. A canteen woman named Anna Fierling (Mother Courage) enters pulling a cart that she uses to trade with soldiers and make profits from the war. She has three children, Eilif, Kattrin, and Swiss Cheese. The sergeant negotiates a deal with Mother Courage while Eilif is led off by the recruiting officer. One of her children is now gone.

Two years from then, Mother Courage argues with a Protestant General's cook over a capon, or chicken. At the same time, Eilif is congratulated by the General for killing peasants and slaughtering their cattle. Eilif and his mother sing "The Fishwife and the Soldier". Mother Courage scolds her son for taking risks that could have got him killed and slaps him across the face.

Three years later, Swiss Cheese works as an army paymaster. The camp prostitute, Yvette Pottier, sings "The Fraternization Song". Mother Courage uses this song to warn Kattrin about involving herself with soldiers. Before the Catholic troops arrive, the Cook and Chaplain bring a message from Eilif. Swiss Cheese hides the regiment's paybox from invading soldiers. Mother Courage & co. hurriedly switch their insignia from Protestant to Catholic. Swiss Cheese is captured by the Catholics while attempting to return the paybox to his General. Mother Courage deals her cart to get money to try and barter with the soldiers to free her son. She takes too long trying negotiate small amount of money for herself, the Chaplin, and Kattrin to live from and Swiss Cheese is shot dead with 11 bullets. To acknowledge the body could be fatal, so Mother Courage does not acknowledge it and it is thrown into a pit.

Later, Mother Courage waits outside the General's tent in order to register a complaint and sings the "Song of Great Capitulation" to a young soldier waiting for the General as well. The soldier is angry that he has not been paid and also wishes to complain. The song persuades the soldier that complaining would be unwise, and Mother Courage (reaching the same conclusion) decides she also does not want to complain.

When Catholic General Tilly's funeral approaches, Mother Courage discusses with the Chaplain about whether the war will continue. The Chaplain then suggests to Mother Courage that she marry him, but she rejects his proposal. Mother Courage curses the war because she finds Kattrin disfigured after being raped by the clerk while collecting more merchandise.

At some point about here Mother Courage is again following the Protestant army.

Two peasants wake Mother Courage up and try to sell merchandise to her while they find out that peace has broken out. The Cook appears and creates an argument between Mother Courage and the Chaplain. Mother Courage departs for the town while Eilif enters, dragged in by soldiers. Eilif is executed for killing peasants but his mother never finds out. When the war begins again, the Cook and Mother Courage start their own business.

The seventeenth year of the war marks a point where there is no food and no supplies. The Cook inherits an inn in Utrecht and suggests to Mother Courage that she operate it with him, but he refuses to harbour Kattrin. It is a very small inn. Mother Courage will not leave her daughter and they part ways with the Cook. Mother Courage and Kattrin pull the wagon by themselves.

The Catholic army attacks the small Protestant town of Halle while Mother Courage is away from town, trading. Kattrin is woken up by a search party that is taking peasants as guides. Kattrin fetches a drum from the cart, climbs onto the roof, and beats it in an attempt to awake the townspeople. Though the soldiers shoot Kattrin, she succeeds in waking up the town.

Early in the morning, Mother Courage sings to her daughter's corpse, has the peasants bury her and hitches herself to the cart. The cart rolls lighter now because there are no more children and very little merchandise left.

Summary
Scene 1

After the funeral of a drag queen friend, Prior bitterly denounces death and the marginalizing of gay men. He is dressed strangely, in a black, prophet-like coat and hood. When Belize questions his moodiness, Prior tells him that the Angel was not a dream: he has been given a prophecy in the form of a book.
Scene 2

Scene Two begins in a flashback, to the angelic visitation three weeks earlier. In piercing, monumental tones, the Angel announces herself as the Angel of America and proclaims that Prior is a prophet. She directs Prior to remove the Sacred Prophetic Implements from their hiding place, which was supposed to have been revealed in a dream. Prior, terrified, says he has no idea what she means. She coughs, puzzled, and consults with an unseen figure, then tells Prior he will find them under the kitchen tiles. He resists, until in a fierce outburst she commands him to submit to the will of heaven. They go into the kitchen and return with a leather suitcase containing a pair of spectacles with rocks for lenses. Prior puts them on briefly, then rips them off, appalled at the vision. Then he removes a bright steel book from the suitcase. Before he reads it, he asks why her presence always turns him on sexually. She replies that "Not Physics but Ecstatics" makes the engine of creation run. They are both increasingly aroused. They have an intense sexual coupling and a ferocious climax.

Prior, in an aside, explains that angelic sexual couplings fuel creation, and that the Angels are incredibly powerful but have no ability to create. But by creating humans, God set in motion the potential for randomness and change. The Angels were disturbed by humanity's migratory instinct, which manifested as tremors in Heaven, a city like San Francisco. Finally, on April eighteen, 1906, the day of the San Francisco earthquake, God abandoned Heaven, never to return. The Angels, believing that human beings' energy drove God away, insist that humankind must stop moving and mingling. Prior, disturbed, tries to reject the prophecy, but the Angel tells him he has no way to hide. She takes the book and ascends into Heaven.

When Belize has heard the full story, he refuses to believe it is real, and accuses Prior of imagining the Angel as a metaphor for wanting his disease to stop and Louis to come back. Prior admits that he might well be going crazy, but that he might also really be a prophet.

Summary
Scene 1

After the funeral of a drag queen friend, Prior bitterly denounces death and the marginalizing of gay men. He is dressed strangely, in a black, prophet-like coat and hood. When Belize questions his moodiness, Prior tells him that the Angel was not a dream: he has been given a prophecy in the form of a book.
Scene 2

Scene Two begins in a flashback, to the angelic visitation three weeks earlier. In piercing, monumental tones, the Angel announces herself as the Angel of America and proclaims that Prior is a prophet. She directs Prior to remove the Sacred Prophetic Implements from their hiding place, which was supposed to have been revealed in a dream. Prior, terrified, says he has no idea what she means. She coughs, puzzled, and consults with an unseen figure, then tells Prior he will find them under the kitchen tiles. He resists, until in a fierce outburst she commands him to submit to the will of heaven. They go into the kitchen and return with a leather suitcase containing a pair of spectacles with rocks for lenses. Prior puts them on briefly, then rips them off, appalled at the vision. Then he removes a bright steel book from the suitcase. Before he reads it, he asks why her presence always turns him on sexually. She replies that "Not Physics but Ecstatics" makes the engine of creation run. They are both increasingly aroused. They have an intense sexual coupling and a ferocious climax.

Prior, in an aside, explains that angelic sexual couplings fuel creation, and that the Angels are incredibly powerful but have no ability to create. But by creating humans, God set in motion the potential for randomness and change. The Angels were disturbed by humanity's migratory instinct, which manifested as tremors in Heaven, a city like San Francisco. Finally, on April eighteen, 1906, the day of the San Francisco earthquake, God abandoned Heaven, never to return. The Angels, believing that human beings' energy drove God away, insist that humankind must stop moving and mingling. Prior, disturbed, tries to reject the prophecy, but the Angel tells him he has no way to hide. She takes the book and ascends into Heaven.

When Belize has heard the full story, he refuses to believe it is real, and accuses Prior of imagining the Angel as a metaphor for wanting his disease to stop and Louis to come back. Prior admits that he might well be going crazy, but that he might also really be a prophet.

Summary
Scene 1

After the funeral of a drag queen friend, Prior bitterly denounces death and the marginalizing of gay men. He is dressed strangely, in a black, prophet-like coat and hood. When Belize questions his moodiness, Prior tells him that the Angel was not a dream: he has been given a prophecy in the form of a book.
Scene 2

Scene Two begins in a flashback, to the angelic visitation three weeks earlier. In piercing, monumental tones, the Angel announces herself as the Angel of America and proclaims that Prior is a prophet. She directs Prior to remove the Sacred Prophetic Implements from their hiding place, which was supposed to have been revealed in a dream. Prior, terrified, says he has no idea what she means. She coughs, puzzled, and consults with an unseen figure, then tells Prior he will find them under the kitchen tiles. He resists, until in a fierce outburst she commands him to submit to the will of heaven. They go into the kitchen and return with a leather suitcase containing a pair of spectacles with rocks for lenses. Prior puts them on briefly, then rips them off, appalled at the vision. Then he removes a bright steel book from the suitcase. Before he reads it, he asks why her presence always turns him on sexually. She replies that "Not Physics but Ecstatics" makes the engine of creation run. They are both increasingly aroused. They have an intense sexual coupling and a ferocious climax.

Prior, in an aside, explains that angelic sexual couplings fuel creation, and that the Angels are incredibly powerful but have no ability to create. But by creating humans, God set in motion the potential for randomness and change. The Angels were disturbed by humanity's migratory instinct, which manifested as tremors in Heaven, a city like San Francisco. Finally, on April eighteen, 1906, the day of the San Francisco earthquake, God abandoned Heaven, never to return. The Angels, believing that human beings' energy drove God away, insist that humankind must stop moving and mingling. Prior, disturbed, tries to reject the prophecy, but the Angel tells him he has no way to hide. She takes the book and ascends into Heaven.

When Belize has heard the full story, he refuses to believe it is real, and accuses Prior of imagining the Angel as a metaphor for wanting his disease to stop and Louis to come back. Prior admits that he might well be going crazy, but that he might also really be a prophet.

Set in New York City in 1985, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters . As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic , gay Jew learns his lover, WASP Prior Walter, has AIDS . As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor , the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn . Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium -addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Roy is himself deeply closeted , and soon discovers that he has AIDS .

As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet ; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality ; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and finds strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health. The subplot involving Cohn is the most political aspect of the play. Portrayed as a self-loathing, power-hungry hypocrite, he prides himself on his political connections and influence, which he has amassed through decades of corruption. In the play, he recollects with pride his role in having Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage . As he lies alone in the hospital, dying of AIDS, the ghost of Rosenberg sings him a Yiddish lullaby and then brings him the news that the New York State Bar Association has just disbarred him, destroying his final hope of dying as a lawyer. The play ends on a note of optimism. After his friends procure for him a stash of AZT , in 1990 Prior is still alive and is managing to live with AIDS. With his friends, he looks at the statue of an angel in Bethesda Fountain and talks of the legend of the original fountain, and how it will flow again some day. The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters ( eg, the actor playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society , as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven , as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park .

Set in New York City in 1985, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters . As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic , gay Jew learns his lover, WASP Prior Walter, has AIDS . As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor , the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn . Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium -addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Roy is himself deeply closeted , and soon discovers that he has AIDS .

As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet ; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality ; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and finds strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health. The subplot involving Cohn is the most political aspect of the play. Portrayed as a self-loathing, power-hungry hypocrite, he prides himself on his political connections and influence, which he has amassed through decades of corruption. In the play, he recollects with pride his role in having Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage . As he lies alone in the hospital, dying of AIDS, the ghost of Rosenberg sings him a Yiddish lullaby and then brings him the news that the New York State Bar Association has just disbarred him, destroying his final hope of dying as a lawyer. The play ends on a note of optimism. After his friends procure for him a stash of AZT , in 1990 Prior is still alive and is managing to live with AIDS. With his friends, he looks at the statue of an angel in Bethesda Fountain and talks of the legend of the original fountain, and how it will flow again some day. The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters ( eg, the actor playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society , as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven , as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park .

Set in New York City in 1985, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters . As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic , gay Jew learns his lover, WASP Prior Walter, has AIDS . As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor , the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn . Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium -addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Roy is himself deeply closeted , and soon discovers that he has AIDS .

As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet ; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality ; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and finds strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health. The subplot involving Cohn is the most political aspect of the play. Portrayed as a self-loathing, power-hungry hypocrite, he prides himself on his political connections and influence, which he has amassed through decades of corruption. In the play, he recollects with pride his role in having Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage . As he lies alone in the hospital, dying of AIDS, the ghost of Rosenberg sings him a Yiddish lullaby and then brings him the news that the New York State Bar Association has just disbarred him, destroying his final hope of dying as a lawyer. The play ends on a note of optimism. After his friends procure for him a stash of AZT , in 1990 Prior is still alive and is managing to live with AIDS. With his friends, he looks at the statue of an angel in Bethesda Fountain and talks of the legend of the original fountain, and how it will flow again some day. The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters ( eg, the actor playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society , as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven , as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park .

Set in New York City in 1985, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters . As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic , gay Jew learns his lover, WASP Prior Walter, has AIDS . As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor , the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn . Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium -addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Roy is himself deeply closeted , and soon discovers that he has AIDS .

As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet ; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality ; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and finds strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health. The subplot involving Cohn is the most political aspect of the play. Portrayed as a self-loathing, power-hungry hypocrite, he prides himself on his political connections and influence, which he has amassed through decades of corruption. In the play, he recollects with pride his role in having Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage . As he lies alone in the hospital, dying of AIDS, the ghost of Rosenberg sings him a Yiddish lullaby and then brings him the news that the New York State Bar Association has just disbarred him, destroying his final hope of dying as a lawyer. The play ends on a note of optimism. After his friends procure for him a stash of AZT , in 1990 Prior is still alive and is managing to live with AIDS. With his friends, he looks at the statue of an angel in Bethesda Fountain and talks of the legend of the original fountain, and how it will flow again some day. The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters ( eg, the actor playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society , as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven , as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park .

Set in New York City in 1985, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters . As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic , gay Jew learns his lover, WASP Prior Walter, has AIDS . As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor , the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn . Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium -addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Roy is himself deeply closeted , and soon discovers that he has AIDS .

As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet ; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality ; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and finds strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health. The subplot involving Cohn is the most political aspect of the play. Portrayed as a self-loathing, power-hungry hypocrite, he prides himself on his political connections and influence, which he has amassed through decades of corruption. In the play, he recollects with pride his role in having Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage . As he lies alone in the hospital, dying of AIDS, the ghost of Rosenberg sings him a Yiddish lullaby and then brings him the news that the New York State Bar Association has just disbarred him, destroying his final hope of dying as a lawyer. The play ends on a note of optimism. After his friends procure for him a stash of AZT , in 1990 Prior is still alive and is managing to live with AIDS. With his friends, he looks at the statue of an angel in Bethesda Fountain and talks of the legend of the original fountain, and how it will flow again some day. The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters ( eg, the actor playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society , as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven , as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park .

Set in New York City in 1985, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters . As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic , gay Jew learns his lover, WASP Prior Walter, has AIDS . As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor , the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn . Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium -addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Roy is himself deeply closeted , and soon discovers that he has AIDS .

As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet ; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality ; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and finds strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health. The subplot involving Cohn is the most political aspect of the play. Portrayed as a self-loathing, power-hungry hypocrite, he prides himself on his political connections and influence, which he has amassed through decades of corruption. In the play, he recollects with pride his role in having Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage . As he lies alone in the hospital, dying of AIDS, the ghost of Rosenberg sings him a Yiddish lullaby and then brings him the news that the New York State Bar Association has just disbarred him, destroying his final hope of dying as a lawyer. The play ends on a note of optimism. After his friends procure for him a stash of AZT , in 1990 Prior is still alive and is managing to live with AIDS. With his friends, he looks at the statue of an angel in Bethesda Fountain and talks of the legend of the original fountain, and how it will flow again some day. The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters ( eg, the actor playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society , as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven , as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park .