Theatre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theatre - Essay Example One of the ‘true masterpieces of modern drama ’as described by Robert Cohen is Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels In America.’ This thrilling panache of a play received critical acclaim right from its inception and went on to win laurels such as the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, in 1993. It is a seven hour long play made up of two parts that captured the contemporary theatre scene in America and by the year 1995 was absorbed into the international repertoire of drama festivals across the world. Described as one of 20th century’s most humorous plays, the centrifugal point of Kushner’s AIDS crisis is no laughing matter. He deftly brings to the forefront many of the unsettled ethical issues in American culture such as religion, race, politics, gender and sexual orientation. The play revolves around a heterosexual couple who is pitted against a homosexual couple and both stories are interwoven with each other highlighting the hate and trauma of the Jewish lawyer who is a gay with AIDS, but is in great self- denial. Many critics have criticized the play for the in your face kind of ethical issues of nudity on stage, the horrifying depictions of people suffering from AIDS, satire that is savagely religious, the cursing and swearing with invectives and to top it all the gross miming of homosexual acts which goes against the conservative nature of a major part of the audience. Quite similar where an odd couple romance is concerned is Neil LaBute’s humor – studded play titled ‘Fat Pig’ which is a genuinely engaging love story of two quite different characters, Tom, the totally sympathetic character and the heart-wrenching and amply endowed Helen. Unlike the ethical issues in Angels, LaBute jogs our memory to the kind of attitude we have towards ethical issues such as plastic surgery, stomach stapling and our association of success with youthful and athletic looks. Though the idea of a sweet romance between a stout