Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika

Act One: Spooj

Scene One

In the darkness a voice is heard announcing the setting of the Kremlin, January 1986. The lights come up on Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov, the world’s oldest Bolshevik. He muses philosophically on whether the human race is doomed or if it is able to change and reorder the chaos of the world, as he now sees it. At the end of his speech, a crashing sound is heard and the lights come up on Prior cowering in his bedroom, the ceiling broken on the floor, and the Angel hovering above. The Angel tells him that the Great Work has begun; Prior tells her to go away.

Scene Two

The setting changes to an Arctic landscape imagined by Harper Pitt. Mr. Lies, an imaginary travel agent, is alone on the stage. Harper enters with a pine tree she has gnawed down with her teeth. She is dirty and dishevelled and complains to Mr. Lies about the cold, desolate atmosphere. If her heart is broken, she wonders why she is not dead. Joe Pitt enters, but it is clear that he is