Angels in America: In Repertory

One of the most exceptional opportunities for Knox students is Repertory Term, a theatre-intensive trimester devoted to three theatre classes and the mounting of 2 fully-produced shows within a ten-week term. For Repertory Term XV, we produced both parts of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America.

The design process between Analise and I was intensely collaborative, since we wanted a strong sense of continuity in the arc of the characters from one play to the next, especially because they would be played by different actors in each of the plays. Jointly we decided on color palettes for the main characters, the Angel, and the Principalities.

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Surrounded by the rigid lines of conformity in the business world of Reagan’s America, the connections we see forged between characters soften their shells of self-restraint.  Throughout Perestroika we see characters shedding their layers—layers of control that keep them isolated—opening themselves to vulnerability and change.  For the heavenly cast, a mix of classical images of annunciation angels and militaristic elements influenced the design of the Angel.  The Principalities were influenced by the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, with their appearances progressively revealing the deterioration of the ‘Great Design’.