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Health & Fitness

Angels When You Need Them

Little Theatre of Manchester offers an opportunity to ponder the political and social upheaval that AIDS-HIV brought to America in the 1990s, and the underlying issues that continue to be relevant.

Many people talk about having angels in their lives, providing comfort during times of stress, confusion, illness and loneliness. On a very different scale and with truly unique characters and controversial dialogue, Little Theatre of Manchester will produce Angels in America, parts I and II at Cheney Hall in September. 

Angels in America is the first major work of playwright Tony Kushner, and its astounding success turned the man and his writing into cultural icons of the late-twentieth century.  Angels has received numerous awards and critical accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for best play in 1994. It has been produced in dozens of countries around the world and translated into several languages, including Chinese.

Angels in America is an "epic" drama, which means its plot unfolds over great span of time and place, involves many characters, and more than one storyline. Two complete plays form the entire plot: the first part, Millennium Approaches (Saturday, September 17) and its second installment, Perestroika (Sunday, September 18). Together, they present more than thirty characters in eight acts, fifty-nine scenes, and an epilogue.

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The challenging production will be directed by Mike Zizka with a stellar cast including John Michael Whitney, Todd Santa Maria, Todd Yocher, Debi Freund, Alysa Auriemma, Giovannie Mendez, Betsy Bradley and Chris Stone.  This Evenings @ 7 playreading will be produced over two consecutive nights and the show runs approximately 2 1/2 hours each.

Little Theatre of Manchester produces Evenings @ 7 playreadings to allow for both new plays or plays that are of interest by the Artistic Committee to be shown on stage, with short rehearsal time and little or no set/costuming.  Often, these shows are then brought to the LTM mainstage schedule.

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This playreading has a suggested donation at the door of $10.  Information on it can be obtained by calling the Cheney Hall box office at 860-647-9824

All of this detail being offered, I think this is a show worth seeing (not just because I believe the director and the cast to be superb) but because we can continue to learn from it, absorb it, and talk about it just like it was received in the 1990's.  We need more opportunities to examine American culture, sexual identity, politics and religion and the arts, and LTM in particular, bring that opportunity to us in this show.

The play does contain strong language and adults situations, so it is clearly recommended for mature audiences. 

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