How Should I Watch ANGELS IN AMERICA?

This summer, the Invictus Theatre Company in Chicago will be producing Tony Kushner's Angels in America duology. I've read both plays multiple times, and I've seen the National Theatre proshot (still need to get around to watching the HBO version), but I've never seen the show live. The company is offering the option of seeing the two parts on separate evenings, or watching Part 1 as a matinee, and Part 2 as an evening performance. Seeing 7 full hours of intense emotional drama sounds really daunting, but I feel like it could also be incredibly rewarding. To those who have seen Angels, what do you think is the best way to enjoy the story? Does seeing it all in a day take away from the experience, or is it really worth it?

I’d do it all in one day. The heaviness and varying types of illness can be a lot for one day, but at least you’ll know you’re getting through it in one fell swoop and don’t need to anticipate part two coming up another day. Plus yes there’s the humor to dull the sword a bit.

I didn't know anything about this show until I watched it in 2018 with Nathan, Andrew and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. It was wonderful to watch Part 1 and think about it all night and the next morning. Part 2 was just as thrilling and I was refreshed and not emotionally exhausted. It's really a personal choice but I hope you enjoy the show!

Updated On: 4/28/25 at 06:49 PM

I saw both parts in one day in Seattle in 2014. It was a long intense day. Last week I saw the Dutch translation/adaptation in Amsterdam. That has cuts and brings it down to two 2 hour acts with a dinner break. I think if I was seeing the original English version agsin I would break it up.

Having never watched it or read it before, my biggest surprise seeing Angels back in 2018 was just how funny it was. It’s emotional and beautiful too of course, but it goes down so smooth. I wish I saw it as a single day.

Adding my voice to the chorus encouraging a single day viewing of both parts. The plays are both brilliant and stand on their own, but seeing it in one sitting just is a truly special experience. There’s a momentum and exhaustion that brings exhilaration and catharsis.

I’m generally a fan of long pieces of theater like this- also things like Gatz or Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade History of Popular Music. I think sharing a piece of art with a group like that over many hours is an incredibly unique communal experience, one that we encounter fleetingly rarely in this day and age.

I saw the original production before it moved to Broadway (with a couple of cast changes). At the time it was one play in two parts. Opening the two of them in separate seasons was one of the craftiest ploys in Tony (if not all award) history.

I saw that production in one day, a thrilling experience. Only you know your tolerance for sitting in a theatre, but I'd recommend doing this. Let me add that in seeing both the Signature revival and the Garfield/Lane production on separate days (the Signature in reverse order, and with an understudy for Louis in Perestroika, several days apart), nothing was lost. But I'd still recommend that one day experience.