It has taken me a good while to write about my fascination, perhaps even unabashed zeal for Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’. Those who know me – friends, family, students, present and past – can attest to the trajectory and nuances of this great love. They can even give a better, if not clearer account, of how this epic of a play has lived alongside my private and professional lives, respectively, feeding me from within. Yes, they can even share an anecdote or two, of a Angelized conversation, of a non-stop lecture-rant with indistinguishable markings on the board (green and white included). Yet, all love stories, especially those conceived in the theatre, need a first-person recount, of how it began, what proceeded to happen afterwards, and if a happy ending is upon it.

On that note –

In light of a preface: I am fully aware of the voluminous prose produced insofar on the ins and outs, critical significance and sheer representational value of Kushner’s epic storm. This is not one such account. It is, in lack of a better term, a re-membrance of how one reader has lived in an Angel-ful world.

I was 24 years old when the play chanced upon me. I had heard its title mentioned a few times, by other thespians, always in connection with its landmark status in the now revitalized American theatre. Yet, when I now think about it, I was not that willing to look it up. Perhaps another Kushner play, the one with the mesmerizing title had done it in: you see, I was not that taken by ‘A Bright Room Called Day’. I got the Brechtian principles, appreciated the allegory, dug the effort. But was simply not sold on the whole idea: it read put-on. It seemed rushed; I felt trapped by its artifice. Then, I attended a graduate seminar, one of those you wish to erase from memory altogether, that listed ‘Angels’ on its syllabus. Went to the university library, bought the complete epic, sat in my favorite chair and started reading. Wow. Oh, wow.

Re-read it three times, over. And then again. What dawned, as the early dawn woke me to my daily obligations, has persisted ever since: If I had only one play to teach, disseminate, stage, reflect on, ponder over, defend, share, it would be this one. Over the years, I have had the chance to teach it, see it staged, reflect on its myriad notions, within and without academic discourse, ponder over its parallel scenes, defend its zeitgeist status, and share it with all that would listen.

Form-wise, ‘Angels’ invites the reader to a structure that is both formidable and inviting. A sort of lucid unison of the Performance Group’s environmental theatre and all that Elizabethan stage-practices have to offer: faith, space, multiplicity of personality, illness as a metaphor, morality queered, hope.

Character-wise, ‘Angels’ welcomes the reader to a cast that is both flawed and exuberant. A family of personages like no other: of a different blood and for a new millennium.

Plot-wise, ‘Angels’… go and read it.

In the past few months, I saw several facebook notes discussing their respective authors' favorite books, concerts, films, etc. So, I thought, why not try it myself. I am compiling the first list: let's call it important theatre texts. Important for my own frame of mind and love of dramatic layerings. The second list will record those theatre productions (adaptations) that altered, for the better (always for the better) my love of the stage. There is no order in the listing; I am writing the titles down as memory of the first read comes to mind.

Angels in America: The Complete Epic by Tony Kushner

Medea by Euripides

The Dying Gaul by Craig Lucas

M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Swimming to Cambodia and Gray's Anatomy by Spalding Gray

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson

Trifles by Susan Glaspell

The Zoo Story by Edward Albee

Barbelo, o psima i deci by Biljana Srbljanovic

Phaedra's Love by Sara Kane

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

The Birthday Party and The Caretaker by Harold Pinter

All My Sons and A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller

Hi-Fi by Goran Stefanovski

Slovenski Kovceg by Venko Andonovski

The Sure Thing by David Ives

As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Huddersfield and Banat by Ugljesa Sajtinac

Art by Yasmina Reza

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Skakavci by Biljana Srbljanovic

The Cherry Orchad by Anton Checkov

Oleanna by David Mamet

The following is a list of meaningful theatre moments, some might even call them ground-breaking; all pertaining my own life as a spectator. They come in memory-order:

Blize (Closer), JDP, directed by Alisa Stojanovic

Mala Ljubav za Mene, ili Sta Plashi Vinsenta Prajsa, Atelje 212, directed by Nenad Gvozdenovic

Leda, Atelje 212, directed by Dejan Mijac

Victor, Victoria, Marquis Theatre, Broadway, directed by Blake Edwards

Beauty and the Beast, The Palace Theatre, Broadway, directed by Julie Taymor

Two Tracks and Text Me, West Yorkshire Playhouse, directed by Joe Williams

Porucnikot od Inishmor (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), Dramski Teatar Skopje, directed by Zoja Buzalkova

Lost Ones, Vanishing Point, Glasgow, directed by Matthew Lenton

Don Zuan (Don Juan), Dramski Teatar Skopje, directed by Aleksandar Popovski

Tesla Electric Company, Pandur Teatar, directed by Tomas Pandur

M Palermu, Sud Costa Occidentale, directed by Emma Dante Marmalade,

Teatar Ulicata, directed by Stefan Moskov

Mala Trilogija Smrti, BDP, directed by Nebojsha Bradic

Site Lica na Petre M. Andreevski, Dramski Teatar Skopje, directed by Vlado Cvetanovski

Sclavi, Farm in the Cave, group direction

Don Krsto, JDP, directed by Vida Ognjenovic

Plastelin, Atelje 212, directed by Nikola Zavishic

Ejmin Pogled (Amy's View), Atelje 212, directed by Ljiljana Todorovic

Shine, JDP, directed by Slobodan Unkovski

Nebeski Odred, JDP, directed by Marko Manojlovic

Kjef, BDP, directed by Egon Savin