《天使在美国》是一部由迈克·尼科尔斯执导，阿尔·帕西诺 / 梅丽尔·斯特里普 / 艾玛·汤普森主演的一部剧情 / 奇幻 / 同性类型的电影，文章吧小编精心整理的一些观众的观后感，希望对大家能有帮助。
《天使在美国》观后感(一)：西方正典里的狗血剧
照例抬个轿子：Tony Kushner的"Angels in America"这个剧得过好多奖噢~包括93年的普利策奖和托尼奖（颁给了上部，我觉得充分说明下部作为续集没有上半部那么闪耀，大团圆结局什么的观众喜欢但是影评人可能角的口味不够重，思想不够深）。Harold Bloom还把它列为Western Canon的最后一位，当然Bloom的品味我们就不先说他了。
我是同时看了剧本和HBO的电视电影版。非常棒的电视电影改编，基本忠于原著。外景非常好的烘托了剧情发展，值得一提的是片首，镜头在云端扫过旧金山金门大桥，盐湖城摩门教堂，圣路易斯拱门，芝加哥楼宇到纽约中央公园，不仅在地域上横跨美国全国，也暗合了原剧"a gay fantasia on national themes"的雄心/野心。但是！好好的片头落到最后中央公园的天使像，突然天使眼睛睁开了是要吓死观众吗！以及，片首曲一响我老想起《一剪梅》是怎么回事。不过也就是因为太忠于剧本，对电视剧来说情节转换太快了，跳跃度略大，需要观众脑补的地方比较多。
说起来大概正是因为这是个进入所谓西方正典的剧本，学界都在关注宗教、政治、同性恋、美国性之类解读，但拥有一颗低俗之心的我，只看粗狗血剧情（觉得自己完蛋了，毫无“学理性”）！其实吧这就是个狗血的三角恋及其周边的故事，其中（硬）塞了好多莫名深奥的内容比如政治。其中最狗血之处莫过于男主LOU这个大贱人（絮絮叨叨个没完，整天念着政治，自谓清高、政治正确的理性法律工作者一枚，我觉得作者大概通过他黑了一把知识分子，就跟WOODY ALLEN一样，没办法，大概纽约这类傻逼太多了，文艺工作者们没法抑制住黑他们的冲动吧），抛弃了得艾滋病的男盆友PRIOR，导致他病得整天癔症，一会儿碰到天使一会儿碰到祖宗的，觉得自己是先知，也只有他的前男友BELIZE来照顾他。然后LOU又和原先就深陷性取向危机的律师同事JOE勾搭上了，彻底掰弯了他，等JOE抛弃老婆对他死去活来的时候，LOU又说对不起哥们我觉得忘不了PRIOR我不应该离开他我要回去找他。JOE这样一个天真纯洁的摩门教徒被打击惨了，他老妈就从盐湖城过来照顾他和他精神分裂的老婆，正好遇到PRIOR，一来二去就跟PRIOR，LOU，还有BELIZE成了幸福的。。。一群好朋友。。。阿狗血啊？！剧情和人物设置槽点太多不忍直视啊！何况他们还经常脱口而出，对美国政治、历史、宗教、性别、疾病进行大段的论述，不看剧本。。。估计无法看懂电视剧吧！
本剧导演牛逼，卡司更牛逼，简直是群星闪耀。AL PACINO简直演绝了！特别是临终那一段，我特怕他老人家自己真的要咽气时可能都没这个真。。。EMMA THOMPSON演天使挺囧的。。。JUSTIN KIRK帅爆了。。。帅哭了。。。可是他为什么不红呢。。。
最后，这个剧的舞台版本演的也很多噢，好多明星也演过噢，比如ZACHARY QUINTO、ADREW SCOTT、DOMINIC COOPER神马的！
《天使在美国》观后感(二)：患難彼此（原文作于一年前）
我深知这篇影评是写得晚了，如同现在追忆911的发生——暴风雨已过，自然风平浪静，而暴风雨却只是不久前的事，尚不能成为人人称道的历史。但当这场雨下到我身上时，确实实在是个把月前的事。
长长的电影，短短的电视剧，我看了两遍才搞得清。第一遍看得断断续续，持续在不断的震惊之中。Al Pacino, 嘭！Meryl Streep,嘭！Amma Thompson，嘭嘭！！爷爷奶奶和前妈妈（这是个老典故）从不曾这样出现在同一个，而且是电视剧中,扮演着不同的人，不露锋芒的闪耀着。
第二遍看得也不甚明了，翻译总是不好，所以就看了原文版的，怨不得翻译，一来不是什么大热门，二来也确实不好翻。片子的质量证明了一个好电影（电视剧），即使是排除几段晦涩的对白，也同样是可以炳彰千秋的。片子里处处是虚空与悲哀，如同普赖尔对哈普说的：“你是极其的不幸福。”痛苦如同梦境一般的真实，侵袭了每个清醒的人。假设我们都是清醒的人，认真想过自己是谁，那么片中的谁又最像我呢？我一开始以为是哈普，后来又觉得自己有路易斯的成份，后来又看到普赖尔的影子，后来……这也没办法，我们每个人都过于复杂，足以被划分为好几个颇为复杂的角色。悲惨世界还是悲惨世界，即使已经过了几百年。新大陆的瘟疫来自旧大陆的病毒，我们从来没有能力净化自己，宿命就是与生俱来的绝望感。
然而上帝走了，抛弃了我们，甚至也抛弃了忠诚美丽而弱智的天使们。这下我们可以满足了，我们不用绝望了，因为希望全都不存在了。没有希望就不必绝望，这才是事实。然而天使们选定了普赖尔做先知，决定把失踪的上帝再找回来。多事的天使。普赖尔做得很好，他辜负了天使，并且摧毁了天使们的希望：“当上帝再回来时，告诉你们应该做什么，你们去起诉他！”经历艾滋病和失去恋人的痛苦，步入死亡的普赖尔最清楚我们早已没有希望，或者说我们不该保有我们一直怀抱着的希望，因为那希望早已不存在，而它的影子却幽灵般的游荡在我们宿命的痛苦之中。
一直希望有一个先知，告诉我们：“没人会来救你，请自己活着吧。”
美国很简单，美国的电视电影也是。比起老旧的欧亚大陆隐藏于市井闹剧下洋葱皮一般层层的深刻与复杂。新大陆即使处理起深刻复杂的题材也显露着纯真。简单的痛苦，简单的欢乐，简单的背叛，简单的阴谋，没有数千年来每一种文化宗教政权战争的折磨，美国的熵数很小。不混乱，怎么说还都是个干干净净的小孩子。
可是如今小孩子也开始关心起我们宿命的绝望，并深信自己要为救赎做出牺牲，这可不算得什么好事。
待续
續文
翻过我的博客，狠狠地往前翻，你才会找到这篇文章的上半部，呵呵，我这“下”真是写的太晚了。
依我一贯的作风，放鸽子也是常有的事。但《天使在美国》实在是一部太好的电视剧（或者我说最好的也不过之），所以既然我写了影评的上半部，不管怎样晚，我也会来完成这下半篇。
上半篇写的虚无，这下半篇我就写的实在些。说说这片具体怎么个好法。
首先我可以保证的是，这绝对是班底最豪华的电视剧了：阿尔 帕西诺，梅丽尔 斯特里普，爱玛 汤普生……COME ON！我是说，哪怕对于一部电影，这也太奢华了。
所以首先好的是演技，帕西诺和斯特里普那两个老戏骨炉火纯青的技艺自不必说（一定要看的是斯特里普演的拉比，哇噢，你只能说这女人也太TMD的有才了吧！）。相当惊喜的是其他相对名气比较小的演员的出色演绎，即使在帕西诺和斯特里普的对比下也绝对是耀眼。其中值得一提的是哈普和普莱尔的扮演者，MARY LOUISE PARKER和JUSTIN KERK。这两位至今在美国仍是打不入主流圈的演员，但在片中的表现实在可圈可点。帕克把哈普的神经质，绝望，迷惑，疯狂，而又坚强的矛盾感刻画得丝丝入扣，感人至深；而科克扮演的普莱尔从生病开始到濒临死亡再到结尾，张力极大的演出而却收放自如，在极张狂夸张地表演中也显出极理智的冷静，（加上十分精致俊俏的面容），更是本片最大的亮点。还有片中黑人娘娘腔比丽兹的扮演者也是功利不俗，但我印象中黑人娘娘腔十个有八个都演得极好，所以惊喜少些。
配乐也是好的，我还专门下了原声碟，主旋律优美婉转（我的同屋说像一剪梅），宗教元素的运用也很自然娴熟。
音效，剪辑，包括导演都是有板有眼，但是相对于极其出色的其它方面稍显暗淡些。
最好的算是编剧了。这电视剧不是那种没有内容只有形式的东西，相反，这是那种信息量极大，需要慢慢赏玩的精品。据说这片子最早是改编自一部九十年代初的舞台剧，我对原作并不是很熟悉，但据说在美国也是轰动一时。幸运的是，据原作本人的评价，这部电视剧也没有违背他当年的主旨，很忠实于原作的精髓。片中的对白有圣经和古希腊哲学结合的感觉，乍听之下当然稍显晦涩（我所见的翻译版本都不太好，这有点遗憾），但是绝对是有重复欣赏性的好东西。我现在闲着没事就经常随手拉出一段来看，不拘是哪一出，总是很好，简直像红楼梦了（当然没那么夸张）。
故事架构是最显编剧功力的，这编剧一开始真是把那绝望的气氛煽动到了极致，片长五个多小时，大部分时间里，所有的角色都是不开心到了极点，迷茫的，无助的，绝望的，让人如此不安。所以当最后普赖尔拒绝了天使的要求时，那种希望归来的感觉真如冰雪消融，一切再度变得真实可触，糟糕还是一样的糟糕，但一切总有了个解释，痛苦总有了个可见的尽头。这也是为什么在片尾普莱尔对着镜头祝福所有的人会让我觉得那样温暖。他说：“这个疾病（艾滋病）会夺去我们中很多人的生命，但决不是，远远不是所有……我祝福你，看看你有多美。”这种片中人直接与观众对话的方式在电视剧中是比较少见的，显然看得出舞台剧前身的影子，这一段真是很美，而且，不知算不算好事：它很励志。我真是很佩服美国，这么一个宗教加政治，同志加艾滋的沉重题材，这样严肃庄重的文绉绉的本子，也叫他们拍出了棒球电影一般的励志感，至少对我来说是这样（甚至过之，因为我不懂棒球）。
对于我这么一个非基督教徒，非同性恋者，非艾滋病患者，非美国人，非任何政治党派人士，也不生活在八十年代的人来讲，这都是一部感人至深，发人深思的好片子，那么我想，它应该对于所有人都是。
电视剧界出了这么一部片子真是电视剧的荣耀。
《天使在美国》观后感(三)：如何看懂一部宗教片
这是一部不容易看懂的电影短剧，充满隐喻、意象、幻觉，梦境、臆测，假象。
影片由几段故事分别叙述，第一部分是千禧年降临，第二部分是重建。
以下的电影能够帮助你更好的理解这部电影：
康斯坦丁
驱魔人
天使之城
魔鬼代言人
穆赫兰道
启示录
耶稣受难记
梦之安魂曲
发条橙
捕梦网
时时刻刻
七宗罪
（一）现实
1980年代的十年的艾滋被发现，蔓延的十年。人人唯恐得艾滋，宗教上，艾滋是对大罪大恶之人的惩罚，剥夺大恶之人对疾病痛苦的抵抗力。美国是艾滋最初发现地，同性恋者被认为是这种病毒的唯一携带者和传播者。艾滋病是邪恶，罪恶，原罪，不可接触的。美国人一直争论的色社会问题就包括同性恋权利，堕胎的合法性，宗教复兴等，这些在电影里面都或多或少的提到。同时，80年代是里根时代，里根在美国人看来是个近乎完美的总统，有严谨的宗教信仰，英俊的面容，坚决的政治态度，强大的统治能力，里根有近乎上帝一样的魅力。
影片的名字已经表明了立场，在一片混乱的世界里面，就算天使也难以解决，只有通过死亡，当事情已经到了绝境，杀死一切重新开始才是唯一解决之道。
美国这个宗教国家需要一个超力量来处理当时的混乱，或许是天使，或许是死亡。
（二）关键议题
同性恋 。1980年代，即使在美国，同性恋也不是一个可以公开的话题，异装癖，同性恋牵扯到艾滋，宗教，法律，家庭，，作为摩门教徒和共和党政客，joe努力逃避自己是一个同性恋者现实，只是他一直认为可以通过自己的力量改变性向，结果是一团糟，被一个小gay路易斯掰弯。
性。性是个难以回避的话题。joe的妻子因为长年在家，而又无法和丈夫沟通，性生活也没有，因为长期服用药物，最后依赖药物成性，产生了幻觉。有一个幻觉是她钻进冰箱，来到一个冰雪的包裹的国度。
宗教。这里包括了摩门教（美国一个基督教的小教派），天主教，基督教，犹太教。宗教的旨意在电影里面十分明显，几场梦境，这次幻觉，都是宗教意义的再现。生命充满束缚、恐惧，世人渴望爱、被爱、渴望救赎。在这些宗教里面，同性恋都不被允许。
充满隐喻的台词比比皆是：
身体是灵魂的花园。
--你去哪里，哪里就有魔鬼，是不是？
--是，到处都有。
（三） 假象，幻觉
明白电影里面角色产生的幻觉和假象对理解这部电影是很有帮助的。Joe的妻子哈珀因为服用药物和和丈夫没有交流，所以虚拟了很多任务，如开始的国际旅游代理商，还有在和Joe争吵后，幻想自己来到一个冰雪覆盖的世界。
普莱尔·沃尔顿发现自己得了艾滋，恋人又抛弃自己，于是在寝室和Joe的妻子哈珀一样产生幻觉，并且和哈珀重叠在一起，于是两个素未谋面的陌生人就在各自的幻境中相遇。
最后的天堂入口是此景：天堂的入口阶梯燃烧，通向天堂的路径向上。小天使们在天堂的废墟嬉戏奔跑。古巴比伦式建筑，天堂的广场据记者无数的天使，众天使忙碌不已，各大洲的权天使在古建筑背景的长桌上商议，人被祝福后才可以复生。
（四）演员和角色
这部电影里面，梅丽尔斯特里普Meryl Streep ，乌玛汤普森Emma Thompson 。其中梅丽尔饰演了影片开头的主持葬礼的白胡子犹太教神父，乔·皮特的母亲两个角色；乌玛饰演了老流浪汉，天使长，护士。
阿尔·帕西诺Al Pacino 饰演罗伊.科恩，有钱有势有权的大律师，被检查出患有艾滋，在世俗和行业的压力下，罗伊威胁私人医生隐瞒艾滋的事实。病痛和罪恶感一直折磨他，不断产生幻觉，被一个宿敌的鬼魂纠缠。他无法被原谅，他是魔鬼，诱惑他人犯罪，诅咒这个世界。他曾经想忏悔，想帮助Joe，最终还是孤独终老。
普莱尔·沃尔顿和路易斯是一对四年的同性恋人，普莱尔·沃尔顿被检查出的了艾滋，当他把这件事告诉路，路的害怕更多于爱，卢克唯恐自己也得艾滋，却又放不下恋人。这个时候，只有有异装癖的朋友不时到医院探望，直到后来天使邀请普莱尔做死亡先知。
（五）结局
结局，一切雨过天晴，一目了然，归属地狱的就死去，有爱的人们就获得原谅，该离开的离开，该活下去的活下去，人人都获得自己的命运。重生的普莱尔在天使像下享受自己的生活：一个和煦的冬日，暖中有冷，天空雾蒙蒙的，于是阳光有了一种质感的显现。在秋天，湖对面的那些树木一片金黄，太阳灿烂的穿透树林，在蓝色天空的映衬下，那忧伤的秋蓝，树木明亮胜过寻常草木。
每个人都有自己的命运，你可以反抗，但不能超越。
《天使在美国》观后感(四)：绝望中的希望
为了爱情放弃天堂的事例并不新鲜，PRIOR放弃天堂选择人世的理由却不是爱情，而只是对生活的渴望，无论在那里的是背叛，疾病还是痛苦，他都愿意在那片令他心碎的土地上多留一会儿，与生活与不幸抗争，最终他重获了爱情与幸福.我没有料到会以这样的方式结局，无论是疾病还是背叛，都是我们已司空见惯并习以为常的了。但是在PRIOR与LOUIS的重归于好上，我看到了希望。拨开云天终于见日出，天堂是自己创造出来了，我们也许无法改变世界，但我们可以尽自己所能去爱生活并爱我们身边的人。
HARPER最终离开了JOE，她带着悲痛与创伤渴望着新的生活，正如被夕阳浸染的天空一样，当美景抚平了受伤的心灵后，第二天，黎明总是会到来。
《天使在美国》观后感(五)：天使在美国
Angels in America 美国天使是剧作家Tony Kushner 最赋盛名的一部戏剧作品。 本部作品分两部， 第一部Millennium Approaches（千禧年来临）和第二部Perestroika(改革)。 其中第一部获得了1993年的普利策奖。毫无疑问，这是一部天才之作。 虽然同性恋是主题之一，但这部剧实际上涉及了美国生活的方方面面： 政治，宗教信仰，种族， 个人身份冲突， 等等等等。 好的作品能让人有不同的解读。 这部作品隐喻颇多， 颇深。 现实和虚幻的场景交替让人分不清事实还是fantasy。宏大的时代背景和小人物们的纠葛，以及天使，神谕和现实的交错让人既迷惑又感到真实。
一部好的作品一定会有深厚的生活的根基，这部作品也不例外。 Tony Kushner 现实中也是一个同性恋，毕业于哥伦比亚大学。恋人mark harris是一名记者，毕业于耶鲁大学。 他们在2003年成为第一对婚礼登上纽约时报的同性婚姻。kushner的同性恋身份让他写起同性恋的纠葛得心应手。即使不是同性恋，读这部作品的时候也能与剧中人物的纠葛而感应。 kushner不仅涉及戏剧界，更是电影界的金牌screenwriter。 慕尼黑，林肯，都是他的作品。 angels in america也被hbo出资，有kushner亲自改编，mike nichols 执导，拍成了电影。
kushner用了5年时间来写完angels in america的两部。 这部作品描写了在纽约的男同性恋情侣间的纠葛。主要人物有roy cohn， 纽约赫赫有名的大律师，曾因控告ethel rosenberg为苏联间谍而一举成名。此时的美国正处于和苏联冷战的时期，红色恐怖笼罩美国。加上艾滋病和恐同的现实挑战，美国未来迷茫一片。 （roy cohn是根据事实上声名赫赫的大律师roy cohn来写的， 但是作者也声明了和现实中的roy 并无太大关系，剧中的roy是他根据现实中的roy创作出来的艺术形象。）joe， roy的下属，与roy有暧昧关系。 Louis，是纽约法院的记录员， 本和男友prior幸福地生活着。但是，化妆师prior却不幸得了爱滋病。 louis和prior是犹太裔gay couple，但louis得知prior得艾滋后就挣扎着离开了他。prior依然深爱着louis，病重的他不得不住进医院，照顾他的护士竟然是他的前男友黑人drag queen（特指爱男扮女装的性别不明的人）belize。 而此时louis已经和同事joe勾搭上了。 joe是结了婚得摩门教徒，但他同时又是一个gay，他的宗教信仰让他不相承认他的gay身份， 和妻子harper有名无实的婚姻让harper安定药上瘾，有幻想症（hallucination）。joe的妈妈hannah得知joe是gay之后， 决心要来到纽约纠正孩子的错误。除了这些现实中的人， 戏里还有一堆天使，传递上帝的信息。 剧中每个主要人物都实际上或者通过幻觉对话并联系了起来。
作者身为gay， 对同性恋人群的生活有着深刻的共鸣与理解。 这部作品里的同性恋是主题之一但却又不是简简单单的为同性恋人群鸣冤诉苦的一部怨妇作品。 这是一部纪录时代， 纪录变革的电影。 天使在美国实际上指的是美国人民的生活。 在第二部快要结束时， 天使们在天堂闲聊， 此时我们看到的天使几步知道radio怎么修， 也会象普通人那样为鸡毛小事拌嘴。 天使在此处是无力的， 唯有上帝是万能。 但是上帝在哪儿呢？剧里并没有出现上帝的影子。 所以说天使代表的是美国人民， 历史的车轮永远会向前走而不是向后倒退。
冲突
个人冲突(intrapersonal conflict）
此剧戏剧冲突多样，不仅有人物之间的冲突，更有个人身份（identity）冲突（自己与自己的冲突）。 比如roy作为一名成功的共和党大律师和同性恋的双重身份在当时是冲突的，于是他不愿承认自己因为招男妓而染上爱滋病， 到死都说自己得的是癌症。 joe的摩门教信仰和他的同性恋身份， 让他纠结不已，
关系冲突（interpersonal conflict）
人物之间的冲突更是明显， Harper和joe 是一对信仰虔诚的摩门教夫妻但是却因为joe的性向而无法象正常夫妻那样生活。 roy 对joe一方面暧昧，另一方面roy又拒绝承认自己的性向。 Louis和prior本是甜蜜小夫妻但因为prior的病louis 又想和他分开。 Prior毫无信仰却被angel告知自己是先知， 会向世人带来上帝的箴言。
包容（acceptance）
包容也是本剧的一个主题。 作者kushner其实是一个非常积极的作家， 尽管同性恋群体的生活在他成长的年代并不乐观， 但结尾作者还是隐约透露了自己对未来的积极幻想：angels in America 可以自由快乐的生活， 不管他到底是什么样的。 Hannah本着纠正孩子joe 的错误的心卖了老家的房子来到纽约希望拯救自己的儿子，怎么也接受不了他是同性恋这个事实。Louis 听闻prior得爱滋病的消息后无法接受， 选择立即离开他，四处勾搭希望能够忘记他。 但在第二部， hannah 逐渐接受了joe， Louis到最后发现自己还是爱着prior。
同性恋的社会现实
90年代的美国，是谈同色变的美国。 同性恋是被忽略的一个群体。 为同性恋维权的法案迟迟不能通过。 当roy发现他得了艾滋时， 他对他的医生说的一番话颇让人深思。 他不断反问医生， 逼问医生， ：“say it， roy cohn is a homosexual”。 医生当然不敢说。Roy他不否认自己的性向，但他否认自己是同性恋。 “ I cannot be labeled by whom I fucked or whom fucked I. I am not homosexual. Homosexual are men who know nobady and who nobody knows, who have zero clout.” 同性恋在当时是被忽略的一个群体，与主流基督教基本教义相违。 没人愿意承认他们的存在， 但是Roy got the clout. 他可以威胁自己的医生， 只要手指一拨， 立刻可以让医生在纽约州生名扫地。 他可以让里根总统与他的男妓握手， 他可以随时和总统夫人通话。 他是权利的象征。
所以他不是同性恋， 他是 a heterosexual man, who fucks around guys. 而AIDS is what homosexuals have. 所以，roy最后逼迫医生承认自己患的是 liver cancer， 而不是艾滋。 Roy的权利让他不承认自己是同性恋， 但他又自信到不否认自己。
Louis是个有点软弱， 多愁善感， 易变的人， 虽然深爱着prior ， 但害怕失去他， 逃避， 软弱。 任何人都会有这样的时期。
背景
此剧的背景很宏大， 时代变动 ， 美国处于和苏联的冷战中， 里根总统对同性恋的保守政治立场让同性恋处于见不得光的一面。 而此时又是全国对爱滋病恐慌的时候， 红色恐怖， 对共产党的不安和与苏联的冷战让大家都惶惶不安。 其中roy更是一个不折不扣的反共者。是他将ethel rosenberg送上的断头台。 其实我觉得与其说他是反共者， 共和党拥簇者不如说他是一个权利上瘾者， 他永远站在权势的一边，他不信上帝，不信地狱，不信鬼魂，他只相信自己，到死也不忘捉弄ethel的鬼魂， 要在power dynamic中占上风。
政治
即使美国宣称是个民主国家， 崇尚自由， 包容和平等， 但在作者看来，这自由平等和民主是有阶级性的。 作者借Louis的口点明，“underneath all the tolerance， is intense， passionate hatred”。 美国梦是中产阶级白人基督教徒异性恋的梦， 美国的民主也是他们的民主， 如果你是同性恋，有色人种，异教徒， 你的声音不会被关注，你的权利也难以维护。
种族问题
elize是一个黑人异装癖同性恋。这让这个剧更涉及到了美国的种族问题。庄园主和黑人奴隶恋爱的故事， Real love isn’t ever ambivalent。 Roy在医院的时候与belize 的对话也很有趣。
天使与orgasm
剧中天使降临时，prior和hannah都与天使产生了orgasm（性高潮）。 这些orgasm很难通过简简单单的性高潮解释。虽然我还是不是很理解这些高潮代表什么， 但从bernini的ecstasy of st Teresa来看， 这些性高潮可能暗示着一种宗教上的屈服， ecstasy of st Teresa是bernini的宗教雕塑，描绘了teresa 修女形容自己感受到上帝的vision, 看到天使降临，带来上帝的message。 在bernini的雕塑中，st teresa被描绘成了性高潮的样子。 所以我觉得剧中和天使的高潮可能代表着Organism bliss， 虽然angels in America没有直接写到上帝， 但是作者还是对未来有积极的期望。 God is blessing America no matter who you are。
变革
第一部Millennium Approaches 由犹太教rabbi在哀悼louis 的逝世的奶奶开头， 隐喻着一个旧时代的死亡和一个新时代的开端。这部剧有积极的隐喻， 在我看来， 剧末暗示着希望，剧末， 大家坐在中央工艺一起讨论 柏林墙瓦解， 新的千禧年即将来临，苏联即将瓦解， 一切都是未知， 象hannah遇到的疯女人说的那样，新的纪元， 一切都会insane。 作者也许暗示着美国文化的改革， 同性恋在这动荡的格局下也有希望变革， 美国梦不再是美国白人中产异性恋的梦。 同时， prior的先知身份也预示着美国文化的变革， 先知prior是个身患绝症的不信上帝的同性恋。但他却被选为先知，在我看来， 作者暗示美国的未来会是充满希望的未来。 美国梦会是所有人的梦。
《天使在美国》观后感(六)：《天使在美国》看·剧·本（第一部）
配图版：http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_55c03f3e0102vbit.html
孤陋寡闻第一次知道有这么个戏是在那部著名的National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage里，短短几分钟的片段不仅让我记住了Andrew Scott，也让我对这部神秘的Angels in America念念不忘。后知后觉有一部不在舞台胜似戏剧的迷你剧存在，感谢导演的忠实，魔幻了现实。念念不忘，必成魔障。再高的还原度也不如庐山真面目，现实的魔幻，药不能停。
第一部 千禧年近了
卷首引用了美国诗人斯坦利·库尼茨（Stanley Kunitz）的《树的试验》（The Testing-Tree，1971）中的一句：
In a murderous time
the heart breaks and breaks
and lives by breaking.
第一幕 坏消息
（1985.10-11）
第一场
人物
伊西多·切梅尔维茨拉比（Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz）：犹太正教教士，东欧口音，由扮演汉娜·波特·皮特（Hannah Porter Pitt）的演员饰。
路易斯·艾伦森（Louis Ironson）：联邦第二巡回上诉法院的文字处理员，昵称路（Lou）。
普莱尔·华尔特（Prior Walter）：路易斯的男友，靠着一小笔信托基金勉强维生，偶尔也帮俱乐部做设计或外烩，赚取外快，生活并不宽裕，但极有格调。
舞台提示
10月的最后几天。切梅尔维茨拉比独自站在舞台上，身旁有一个小棺材。那是一个粗糙的松木棺，头尾各有一个木栓，将棺盖固定。棺盖上罩着一块绣有犹太教标志大卫星（Star of David）的祈祷用方巾，前头则燃着一支犹太教悼念仪式上用的长明灯（yahrzeit candle）。
镜头从葬礼开始，梅丽尔·“OMG”·斯特里普（Meryl Streep）反串饰演的老拉比颤颤巍巍地说出了全剧第一段也是很长一段台词，温和、坚定又不失幽默，配上早期犹太移民漂洋过海的黑白纪录片儿片段，使这段诗意含蓄的骄傲兼吐槽更易于理解：
...She was not a person but a whole kind of person, the ones who crossed the ocean, who brought with us to America the villages of Russia and Lithuania-and how we struggled, and how we fought, for the family, for the Jewish home, so that you would not grow up here, in this strange place, in the melting pot where nothing melted. Descendants of this immigrant woman, you do not grow up in America, you and your children and their children with the goyische names. You do not live in America. No such place exists. Your clay is the clay of some Litvak shtetl, your air the air of the steppes-because she carried the old world on her back across the ocean, in a boat, and she put it down on Grand Concourse Avenue, or in Flatbush, and she worked that earth into your bones, and you pass it to your children, this ancient, ancient culture and home.
You can never make that crossing that she made, for such Great Voyages in this world do not any more exist. But every day of your lives the miles that voyage between that place and this one you cross. Every day. You understand me？ In you that journey is.
镜头随着老拉比的悼词扫过出席葬礼的人，被点到名字，或被触到G点，有凝重，没有悲伤，有怀念，更有笑颜。最后，聚焦在与其他人拉开一定距离，独自成双的两个人身上。你一眼就能看出，他们之间，有爱。
第二场
人物
罗伊·科恩（Roy M. Cohn）：成功的纽约律师，私底下也是一名权力掮客。
约瑟夫·波特·皮特（Joseph Porter Pitt）：第二巡回上诉法院法官西奥多·威尔逊（Theodore Wilson）的书记长，昵称乔（Joe）。
舞台提示
当日。罗伊和乔在在罗伊的办公室里。罗伊坐在一个豪华的大书桌前，书桌上别无他物，只有一套非常复杂的多功能电话机，上面一排排的按钮不断闪动，发出哔哔的响声，吵杂的音乐声和罗伊的谈话声交织成一片。乔就坐在那儿等。罗伊办事时精力充沛，急躁过人，情绪非常奔放：他有时比手画脚，有时高声吼叫，时而甜言蜜语，时而喃喃低语，把弄电话机、话筒和按钮的技巧几乎已达到出神入化的地步。
阿尔·帕西诺（Al Pacino）饰演角色的人物原型罗伊·马库斯·科恩（Roy Marcus Cohn），是20世纪50年代美国政坛盛行一时的极右派麦卡锡主义的一名遗老。他在剧中的所作所为，比如在罗森堡夫妇间谍案的审判中非法和考夫曼法官所举行的会议，都有史可查。
罗伊一出场就开启叨B叨模式，帕特里克·威尔逊（Patrick Wilson）饰演的乔则正襟危坐，略显局促，欲言又止。这样的场面，几乎就是罗伊和乔会面的标准模式，哪怕未来前者躺在病床上虚弱不堪，后者依然摆脱不掉这份无形的压力。也难怪，透过没什么连贯性的台词，不容分说的强势气息已经从罗伊身上散发出来，在他手里，玩弄权势、关系如同虐待电话键一样轻而易举。然而乔似乎还没有意识到和这样的人走得太近是危险的，所以这个摩门教徒还在坚持自己那点儿微不足道的原则要求罗伊不要张口闭口f*ck上帝。
像是冥冥之中戳到乔的痛楚，罗伊提到一出音乐剧《一笼傻鸟》（La Cage aux Folles，1983），并以百老汇历史最佳之名向乔力荐。这是一部同性恋题材的欢脱喜剧，乔怕是不明就里，但罗伊对待同志问题的态度在此已经埋下伏笔。在他眼里，戏中因善意、宽容而最终和解的假凤虚凰们，大概真的就是一笼傻鸟吧？只是眼下他还不知道，面前的乔内心有多大的困扰纠结，日益作茧自缚。
本场插入了剧本中没有的一段：奶奶的葬礼后，本·申克曼（Ben Shenkman）饰演的路易斯在教堂外告诉家人他会自己坐公交车去墓地，说完便和爱人一起走了。自始至终，贾斯汀·柯克（Justin Kirk）饰演的普莱尔没有一句话，只是默默地站在路口抽着烟等待，当二人走过转角，他微微回头确定路易斯的家人不会看到，才将右手轻轻搭在了爱人的肩头。至此，同志爱人的两番出场，几乎都没有开口，仅靠表情和肢体语言，便默契与爱意毕现。
第三场
人物
哈珀·阿玛蒂·皮特（Harper Amaty Pitt）：乔的妻子，患有广场恐惧症，对“安定”轻微上瘾。
谎先生（Mr. Lies）：出现在哈珀幻觉中的朋友，他是个旅游代理人，但穿着和谈吐像个爵士音乐家。他的上衣翻领上总是别着一个徽章，上刻着“IOTA”（The International Order of Travel Agents，旅游代理国际预订）。由扮演伯利兹（Belize）的演员饰。
乔。
舞台提示
当天稍晚。哈珀独自一人在家。她面对着观众，一如往常地一面听着收音机，一面自言自语。
舌头上两粒蓝色的药片儿，蓬头垢面，毛手毛脚，一时难以将玛丽-露易丝·帕克（Mary-Louise Parker）的形象与笔管条直、衣冠楚楚的乔的妻子画等号，鲜明的反差也暗示了二人婚姻关系的背离。剧本中哈珀的第一段台词被省略了真是可惜，这段应是她从收音机里获得的信息乍听之下似是呓语，却道破了对新纪元降临前弥散的末世癌的预言：
...the fussy vegetable preference for visible light, its rejection of darker rays and emanations. Danger from without. It's a kind of gift, from God, the crowning touch to the creation of the world: guardian angels, hands linked, make a spherical net, a blue-green nesting orb, a shell of safety for life itself. But everywhere, things are collapsing, lies surfacing, systems of defense giving way.... This is why, Joe, this is why I shouldn't be left alone.
人世的症状，哈珀并不关心，她的癌，始终是对被乔放逐的恐惧。这对没有爱的夫妻，结合是因为乔试图借挽救一个女神经来掰直自己，但是一个不能面对和承认自己性向的人编织的防护网怎么靠得住？所以二人迷失在没有光合作用的漆黑旷野，为了呼吸，哈珀更深地躲进她的幻想世界；乔则蜷缩在两侧各有一扇门的柜子里，门是虚掩着的，但他不知道。
第四场
人物
路易斯。
普莱尔。
舞台提示
当天。路易斯和普莱尔穿着精心缝制的丧服，坐在停尸间外的椅子上交谈。莎拉·艾伦森（Sarah Ironson）的葬礼刚结束，路易斯正准备要前往墓地。
本场就是AS在NT 50周年庆典上演出的片段，剧中将场景搬到了公交车站附近的长椅上。现在回过头去对比着看，才发现两个版本的气质差异还蛮大的，舞台片段更intense，AS像是一只受伤的刺猬；迷你剧则偏soft，普莱尔更像是一头……母鹿。此前的出场片刻，普莱尔总是一脸笑意地望着路易斯，如沐阳光。而在这场注定拉开了悲剧序幕的对话里，“太阳”自我、懦弱、矛盾的性格在现实的重击下全面地露出端倪，同志爱人关系的走向昭然若揭。
镜头中秋日的绚烂与死亡的阴影强烈对比，路易斯的身影渐行渐远，他承诺去去就来，但普莱尔已经预感到，过去将被埋葬，永远不会回来了。
-Then I'll come home.
-Le chat, elle ne reviendra jamais, jamais... (The cat, she will never, never return...)
至此，对被抛弃的恐惧成为比艾滋病更令普莱尔胆寒的癌，为他与同命相连的哈珀在幻觉中相遇埋下了伏笔。
第五场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
路易斯。
切梅尔维茨拉比。
舞台提示
当日稍晚。舞台分为两景：乔和哈珀在家；路易斯和切梅尔维茨拉比在墓地，小棺材放在一旁。
本剧设定的背景是80年代的纽约，气数将尽的罗伊的存在犹如一个似曾相识的阴影，提醒着里根政府的保守主义复辟。身为摩门教徒和共和党员的乔无疑是“传统”和“保守”的完美新代言，自然成了阴影意欲附着的傀儡。当他在妻子面前鼓吹里根重塑了美国时，哈珀的呓语再次一针见血：“But it still seems that way. More now than before.”
路易斯带着预支的负罪感向老拉忏悔，得到的却是无情的神回复：“Catholics believe in forgiveness. Jews believe in Guilt.”现在想想，越往后越觉得路易斯像一个爱强词夺理的孩子，任性又脆弱。身患绝症命不久矣的不是他，扑在病人怀里哭着求安慰的却是他；饱受病痛折磨生不如死的不是他，大呼小叫再也受不了了的却是他；不能共患难遗弃爱人另觅新欢的是他，用欲望自醉用暴力自罚是为旧情难忘的也是他……一个负心的孩子，比毒蛇的牙齿还要使人痛入骨髓，致人癌症。
无论是犹太人、同性恋的身份，还是左派自由主义的观点，路易斯看起来都是那个与作者本人较为接近的角色。所幸的是，剧中这个犹太教“叛逆”以自由、进步为名的自私、逃避，也是作者揶揄、反思的对象：
Americans pay high prices for maintaining the myth of the Individual: We have no system of universal health care, we don't educate our children, we can't pass sane gun control laws, we elect presidents like Reagan, we hate and fear inevitable processes like aging and death.... Anyone interested in exploring alternatives to Individualism and the political economy it serves, Capitalism, has to be willing to ask hard questions about the ego, both as abstraction and as exemplified in oneself.（见剧本后记With a Little Help from My Friends）
本场彩蛋：在墓地外等车的四位拉比，坐在梅姨右手的就是本剧作者托尼·库什纳（Tony Kushner），在他右手的则是童书作家、插画家莫里斯·桑达克（Maurice Sendak）。
第六场
人物
路易斯。
乔。
舞台提示
11月的第一个星期。布鲁克林联邦上诉法院办公室的男厕所内，路易斯在洗手台前哭泣，乔入场。
本场是路易斯和乔的邂逅，准确地说是路易斯对乔的各种调戏——你男朋友病得快死了，你就开始找备胎调情了喂！不过纯良纠结男这场真是颜值爆表啊，瞬间反应的各种小表情也呆萌呆萌的，最后那撇羞涩的微笑，开自心底被路易斯种下的启蒙之花。
第七场
人物
普莱尔。
哈珀。
声音（The voice）：天使的声音。
舞台提示
一周后。两个梦境混合在一起。普莱尔在梦中，坐在一张豪华的梳妆台前上粉底；哈珀则在服药后产生幻觉。她偶尔会如此。这次，似乎是普莱尔出现在哈珀的幻觉中，但又像是哈珀出现在普莱尔的梦境中。
两片儿，倒回去一片儿，又拿出来，放进嘴里，再掰半片儿；两粒，一把，又一把，就着药水吞下去。哈珀心满意足地窝进沙发，眼皮渐渐发沉；普莱尔平躺在沙发上，手里的《谷克多传记》（Cocteau: A Biography）慢慢滑落胸口——梦境的布景就是在模仿法国诗人让·谷克多（Jean Cocteau）导演的电影《美女与野兽》（Beauty and the Beast，1946）。两个药罐子的梦幻相遇在剧中就是这样开场的，华丽，荒诞，伤感，自尊，初看时第一次流下眼泪就在这里。
-My heart is pumping polluted blood. I feel dirty.
-Deep inside you, there's a part of you, the most inner part, entirely free of disease.
普莱尔在梦中异装cos的是电影/音乐剧《日落大道》（Sunset Boulevard，1950）的女主人公诺尔玛·德斯蒙德（Norma Desmond），一个沉溺于昔日风光岁月的过气演员。这无疑是普莱尔患病后悲惨心境的写照，似乎也预示着不祥的结局——不，天使递下来一支羽毛笔，握住它，你有改写命运的权利。
第八场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
路易斯。
普莱尔。
舞台提示
当晚，舞台上分成左右两景。哈珀和乔在家里，普莱尔和路易斯在床上。
-Are you a homo？
-NO. I'm not.
哈珀从厨房追到卧室，又追到玄关堵住大门，终于听到一个这房间里没人相信的回答。每当触及问题的实质，乔就变脸般抹去谦谦君子的伪装，露出自卫的獠牙，却越发显出他的恐惧：
All I will say is that I am a very good man who has worked very hard to become good and you want to destroy that. You want to destroy me, but I am not going to let you do that.
-Tell me some more about justice.
-You are not about to die.
抚摸，亲吻，普莱尔像温柔的母亲安慰着被吓坏的孩子。路易斯充耳不闻地大谈正义的哲学，仿佛没有任何“癌”挡在他们中间，这就是他所谓的handling：
-You love me. What if I walked out on this？ Would you hate me forever？
-...it seems to me that it lets you off scot-free. No judgment, no guilt or responsibility. For anyone. It was an editorial "you."（本场在迷你剧中被省略的台词之一）
两个谎言。而隐藏在谎言背后的，就是真相。
第九场
人物
亨利（Henry）：罗伊的医生，由扮演汉娜的演员饰。
罗伊。
舞台提示
11月的第三个礼拜。罗伊和他的医生亨利，在亨利的办公室里。
很遗憾，剧中没有让万能的梅姨分身亨利，饰演医生的是詹姆斯·克伦威尔（James Cromwell）。本场，罗伊发表了他臭名昭著的“直男癌宣言”：
I have sex with men. But unlike nearly every other man of whom this is true, I bring the guy I'm screwing to the White House and President Reagan smiles at us and shakes his hand. Because what I am is defined entirely by who I am. Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man, Henry, who fucks around with guys.... AIDS is what homosexuals have. I have liver cancer.
历史上真实的罗伊·科恩也是一个深柜，同样也是死于艾滋病，只不过是在1986年8月，而非剧中的2月。有趣儿的是，罗伊还在作者的另一个剧本《G.大卫·沙因在地狱》（G. David Schine in Hell）中出现过，并与他传说中的基友沙因在地狱中。
第一幕最后，医生提到当时的一种抗艾新药，也就是大名鼎鼎的AZT，但必须向位于马里兰州贝塞斯达（Bethesda）的美国国立卫生研究院提出申请，再排上两年的队才可能拿到。在所有坏消息里，这算得上一个希望；在所有希望里，这相当于绝望。但是在圣经里，耶路撒冷城中有一个毕士大池（Pool of Bethesda），池水被天使搅动后，可以治愈第一个下水之人的一切疾病……
第二幕 人为环境
（1985.12-1986.1）
第一场
人物
普莱尔。
路易斯。
舞台提示
12月第三个星期的一个晚上，普莱尔独自倒在他卧房的地上，他的病情更严重了。
Enough.
第二场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
舞台提示
当晚。哈珀独自坐在家里，室内没有开灯，观众几乎看不见她。乔入场，但没有开灯。
这是皮特夫妇难得的温情时刻，可是尽管言语动听，眼泪真诚，是发自内心地试图交流或化解，秘密依旧被厚厚的外壳包裹在无法触及的地方，放不下，打不开。《雅各与天使摔跤》（Jacob Wrestling with the Angel）是乔打不赢的噩梦。雅各的名字意为“抓住”，在与天使搏斗后，他被神赐名以色列，意即“与神搏斗”，而他的后代就是以色列人。名字的改变，意味着从物质中获得了解放，进入了灵性的境界；乔笃定人不胜天，因而不能也不会做出这样的“改变”。他的最大努力就是从盐湖城逃到纽约，以为可以摆脱过去的阴影，治愈“癌症”，洗刷“罪恶”，其实从来就没有走出过那片沙漠。现在，他所能做的就是祈祷上帝“to crush me, break me up into little pieces and start all over again”。
镜头推进特写的那幅《雅各与天使摔跤》，是法国画家亚历山大·路易·勒卢瓦尔（Alexander Louis Leloir）的版本。这般神迹，日后会在普莱尔身上再现，并且——也是最重要的——取得胜利。这是普莱尔（们）与乔（们）的根本区别，也是令路易斯最终重新做出选择的原因。
第三场
人物
艾米莉（Emily）：护士，由扮演天使的演员饰。
路易斯。
舞台提示
第二天凌晨1点。医院。路易斯和护士艾米莉坐在普莱尔的病房外。
出现在镜头里的是病房内的场景，昏睡的普莱尔，忙前忙后的护士，叨B叨的路易斯。当镜头随着按捺不住的不告而别推到走廊上，我肯定听到了什么东西断裂的声音。
第四场
人物
乔。
罗伊。
公园里的男人（The man in the park）：由扮演普莱尔的演员饰。
路易斯。
舞台提示
一小时后。舞台上分为两景：乔和罗伊在一家高级的（异性恋）酒吧里；路易斯和一陌生男子在中央公园里一条隐秘的小径上。乔和罗伊坐在灯光明亮的吧台前，乔面前有一盘食物，但他并没有动口，罗伊偶尔伸手过来叉一小块乔的食物去吃。罗伊酒喝得很凶，乔则一滴也没沾。路易斯和陌生男子彼此互换眼色，时而表现兴趣，时而故作冷淡。
约瑟夫·雷蒙德·麦卡锡（Joseph Raymond McCarthy），律师、参议员，五十年代初anti-G白色恐怖的制造者；约翰·埃德加·胡佛（J. Edgar Hoover），律师、犯罪学家，曾任FBI局长，仇视左派；沃尔特·温切尔（Walter Winchell），记者、剧评家、电台主持人，麦卡锡的支持者。这三位“父亲”，是罗伊怀念的风云时代。现在，他想在蜡烛燃尽前烧上最后一炷香——可是，没有一位称职的父亲会告诉孩子爱和责任是trap。哦乔，你那雕塑般凝结的崇拜和怀疑，好看得令我作呕。
与此同时，酒吧窗外的公园里，路易斯和陌生男子上演着短暂且并不成功的SM——不用担心他遇到大灰狼，他甚至并不在乎自己会不会被感染，会不会被侵害。他惧怕的是笼罩在无常生命周围的那些黑色气旋，它们会trap他的自由，阻碍他的进化。
第五场
人物
普莱尔。
伯利兹（Belize）：普莱尔的前任男友，曾是夜总会的扮装皇后（drag queen），现在则是专业护士（registered nurse）。他本名叫做诺曼·阿里亚加（Norman Arriaga），伯利兹是作秀（drag show）时用的花名（drag name），后来变成他的绰号。
声音。
舞台提示
三天后，医院。普莱尔和伯利兹在普莱尔的病房里。普莱尔病况很严重，但略有好转。伯利兹刚到。
-Miss Thing.（八九十年代流行的对有魅力的同志的戏谑称呼）
-Ma cherie bichette. (My dear little doe.)
-Stella.
-Stella for star.
在《欲望号街车》（A Streetcar Named Desire）式的对白中，白兰奇和斯蒂拉姐妹重逢——剧本中我最喜欢的角色终于登场了。扮演伯利兹的杰弗里·赖特（Jeffrey Wright）在1993年还参演过舞台剧版《天使在美国》，演的自然也是伯利兹。此外，路易斯的扮演者申克曼曾在1993年的非正式舞台演出中饰演罗伊，目前还未出场的摩门教母亲（The Mormon Mother）的扮演者罗宾·薇格特（Robin Weigert）在2010年的舞台剧中演过（美国）天使。
如果说艾玛·汤普森（Emma Thompson）扮演的天使代表的是保守、阻力，那么，赖特的“白衣天使”无论从职业到人格，都代表着守护、助力。他在普莱尔、路易斯和罗伊此后的命运中起到了不同然而重要的作用。他不是无限宽容的滥好人，相反，补刀的功力可是一流的，但是这个黑人、同志、异装癖身上自有一股安之若素，十分地洒脱。
王尔德说，“被永远活动着的生命幻象所欺骗的人们，都是在监狱外的”，“只有不动的我们，才能‘看’和‘知’”。我以为在一定意义上，疾病也是一场牢狱，“把人变成石头”，也使人有机会“恰如其分地观照人和物”。现身吧，let the Work begins。
第六场
人物
马丁·赫勒（Martin Heller）：里根政府司法部的公关人员，由扮演哈珀的演员饰。
乔。
罗伊。
舞台提示
1月的第二个礼拜。马丁、罗伊和乔在曼哈顿一间格调很高的餐厅里。
身体和事业的双重受创，使罗伊没有耐心再和乔玩儿过家家。魔鬼的诡辩，凶相毕露，却不堪一击：
How do you think a handful of Bolsheviks turned St. Petersburg into Leningrad in one afternoon？ Comrades. Who do for each other. Marx and Engels. Lenin and Trotsky. Josef Stalin and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
...Their little rules. Because I know no rules. Because I don't see the Law as a dead and arbitrary collection of antiquated dictums, thou shall, thou shalt not, because, because I know the Law's a pliable, breathing, sweating…organ...
Without the light of the sun, Joe, these cases, and the fancy lawyers who represent them, will wither and die. A well-placed friend, someone in the Justice Department, say, can turn off the sun. Cast a deep shadow on my behalf. Make them shiver in the cold. If they overstep. They would fear that.
——任他天花乱坠，唾沫横飞，软硬兼施，乔自风情不解，冥顽不灵，岿然不动。
第七场
人物
路易斯。
乔。
舞台提示
当天下午，在布鲁克林司法厅外的花岗岩石阶上。天气晴朗但寒冷。有一台餐车在那里贩卖热狗。路易斯穿着一件寒酸的外套坐在阶梯上，若有所思地啃着一条热狗。乔手拿着三条热狗和一罐可乐入场。
两个在很多时候让我觉得是有性格缺陷的人，在另一些时候，如处子般纯洁，难过、苦恼得那么无辜，令人心痛。路易斯因为思念和愧疚，吃不下睡不着；乔在内心和外界的多重压力下，大礼拜天跑去上班。不能自已的慌乱、迷惘中，两个大男人真的变成了孩子。不熟知彼此过去而产生的安全感模糊了观念的对立，伪装成吸引力，将两颗心试探、扰乱：
-...Nowadays. No connections. No responsibilities. All of us...falling through the cracks that separate what we owe to ourselves and...and what we owe to love.（在迷你剧中被省略）
-You just.... Whatever you feel like saying or doing, you don't care, you just...do it.
-DO what？
-It. Whatever. Whatever it is you want to do.
-Are you trying to tell me something？
（舞台提示：沉默了一下，两人带着性暗示的眼神，彼此对望了一会儿。乔转过头去。）
-NO, I'm just observing that you...
-Impulsive.
-Yes, I mean it must be scary, you...
-Land of the free. Home of the brave. Call me irresponsible.
-It's kind of terrifying.
-Yeah, well, freedom is. Heartless, too.
-Oh you're not heartless.
-You don't know.
自由国土，勇士的家乡，伟大和可怕的故事俯拾皆是，Song of Myself的后代，因为年轻而敢于不计后果。这诱惑令乔惊慌——没有了正义的约束（与罗伊沆瀣一气？）、爱的套牢（做欲望的奴仆？），完全的自由会是他的灭顶之灾：
...what a thing it would be...if overnight everything you owe anything to, justice, or love, had really gone away. Free. It would be...heartless terror. Yes. Terrible, and... Very great. To shed your skin, every old skin, one by one and then walk away, unencumbered, into the morning.
路易斯挤对里根家族那句“Well darling he never sucked my cock but...”是在模仿美国女演员塔卢拉·班克赫德（Tallulah Bankhead）对好事者向她打听她的一位好友是否同性恋的回答。本场结束前路易斯还有一段自嘲被省略了，刚才他对里根的讽刺，全部反射回自己身上，其实他是有自知之明的，所以才受着良心的谴责：
Maybe the court won't convene. Ever again. Maybe we are free. To do whatever. Children of the new morning, criminal minds. Selfish and greedy and loveless and blind. Reagan's children. You're scared. So am I. Everybody is in the land of the free. God help us all.
第八场
人物
乔。
汉娜·波特·皮特（Hannah Porter Pitt）：乔的母亲，目前住在盐湖城，靠亡夫的陆军退伍金度日。
舞台提示
当天深夜。乔在电话亭打电话给盐湖城的母亲。
上一场，乔说他can't be this anymore，他need a change。起先，我以为这不过是又一次纠结，但是当他深更半夜站在纽约“那个”中央公园的电话亭旁给远在家乡的母亲打电话——come out, literally。
电话那头的梅姨，强作镇定地念着儿子喝酒的罪过，真是一点儿也不令人意外的乔的母亲的反应。此时，不仅是乔，就连她自己也不知道，一个传统的摩门教徒母亲，有着比她的儿子大得多的心。
第九场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
普莱尔。
路易斯。
谎先生。
舞台提示
第二天清晨。舞台上分为两景：哈珀和乔在家中；路易斯和普莱尔在普莱尔的病房中。乔和路易斯刚刚入场。这一场语速要快，气氛非常火爆，台词重叠没有关系。对话过程可能有些混乱，但结尾必须有条不紊。
镜头在两厢间不断切换，温度持续飙升，高潮迭起，非常精彩。可想而知呈现在舞台上，此起彼伏，交相辉映，会有多悲壮。
I'm leaving. I already have.
I need some privacy.
I won't be judged by you. This isn't a crime, just-the inevitable consequence of people who run out of-whose limitations...
YOU can love someone and fail them. You can love someone and not be able to...
I have to find some way to save myself.
I'm not going to leave you.
This is the truth. I knew this when I married you. I've known this I guess for as long as I've known anything, but... I don't know, I thought maybe that with enough effort and will I could change myself...but I can't...
I'm the man with the knives.
“里根的孩子”以“自由”之名重新定义了爱的含义，“雅各”在“癌欲”面前失去了阵地。他们终于不顾一切地抒发，剖白，辩解：我，我的眼里只有我，我自己。
This man's heart is deficient. He loves, but his love is worth nothing.
YOU were going to save me, but the whole time you were spinning a lie.
砰砰，两道烟花蹿升绽放，洒落遍地惆怅。伤害已经造成，收回你廉价的“对不起”。
第十场
人物
汉娜。
教会姐妹艾拉·查普特（Sister Ella Chapter）：盐湖城的一个房地产销售员，由扮演天使的演员饰。
舞台提示
当天黄昏。汉娜和教会姐妹——房地产销售员艾拉·查普特，在汉娜盐湖城的家中。
本场讲的是汉娜和教友商量卖房事宜，在迷你剧中没有体现。艾拉是一个比汉娜更为保守的教徒，她极力劝说汉娜留在盐湖城，但汉娜心意已决。这次以挽救儿子为名义的晚年出走，没有扭转乔，却将汉娜的一切陈旧丢进了沙漠，最终改变了她的人生体认。
整个第二幕都在“打破”，所谓不破不立，当熟悉的关系不复，习惯的环境终结，灵魂要么选择委身于黑暗的虚空，要么决定寻找新的出口。
第三幕 恍惚间，黎明前
（1986.1）
第一场
人物
普莱尔。
普莱尔1（Prior 1）：普莱尔祖先的鬼魂，由扮演乔的演员饰。他是个13世纪的农夫，个性悲观但为人坦率，带着英格兰东北部约克郡喉音的腔调。
普莱尔2（Prior 2）：普莱尔祖先的鬼魂，由扮演罗伊的演员饰。他是个17世纪的伦敦人，老成而世故，带着英国上流社会的口音。
舞台提示
第二幕结束的三天后。深夜。舞台全景。普莱尔在自己公寓的床上做着噩梦。他惊醒，坐起身来，把床头灯打开，看看钟。一个穿着13世纪英国地主服装的人，正坐在床附近的桌子边。
普莱尔是爱尔兰后裔，第二幕第三场，路易斯曾告诉艾米莉护士，普莱尔·沃尔特是一个古老家族里的古老名字，这个家族出过很多普莱尔·沃尔特。鉴于这种设定，不找两个正宗口音怎么显得出HBO的高大上呢……所以，剧中的普莱尔1是迈克尔·刚本（Michael Gambon），普莱尔2则是西蒙·卡洛（Simon Callow）。普莱尔1是家族里第5个普莱尔，普莱尔2是第17个，普莱尔则是第34个。
本场可以说是正式进入了“千禧年”（Millennium）的主题。人类的进步诱惑上帝出走，天使指定先知，传谕人间停止脚步，迎接上帝的再临。
第二场
人物
路易斯。
伯利兹。
普莱尔。
艾米莉。
舞台提示
第二天。舞台上分为两景：路易斯和伯利兹在咖啡店里；普莱尔和护士艾米莉在医院的门诊部，他正在为他注射喷他脒点滴。
——当然，艾米莉不只给普莱尔输液，还要做全身检查，你懂的。不过，虽然有全裸镜头，气氛却是紧张（普莱尔）中透着安详（护士），有一种严肃的神圣感。装上翅膀，艾玛阿姨是狰狞搞怪的小恶魔；穿上白大褂儿，她是自带光环的圣母。普莱尔戏谑“药学的奇迹”时说“Lazarus breathes again”，指的是圣经中耶稣让已死的拉撒路复活了的神迹。但在作者笔下更常发生的是，象征着神力的医生总是在宣布无能为力（亨利对罗伊：I haven't got a damn thing for you；牙医对普莱尔：Yuck!），代表着人力的护士则一路“送佛送到西”（除了艾米莉外，再如伯利兹对罗伊的“临终关怀”，对普莱尔的不离不弃）——神的退场，人的自救，或者是我想多了，作者只是有护士情结……
那边厢，路易斯看上去憔悴了很多，胡子拉碴，尽管仍然喋喋不休，甚至比以往说得更多，却越发显得精神不振，似强弩之末。坐在对面的伯利兹，很明显在忍耐，而且忍很久了，可是路易斯并没有要停下来的意思。与外表的变化同步，他关于民主、自由、种族的最新演讲也各种矛盾，不知所云。尤其当话题触及种族问题时，幼稚，虚弱——伯利兹一飞镖就把果冻戳穿。作为中产白人，路易斯对美国民主过分乐观，对（美国以外的）反犹情绪有被害妄想症般的纤细敏感，对（美国的）种族问题却有意无意地反应迟钝；他就是他所声讨的布尔乔亚，他早已被他f*ck的同化所同化。伯利兹再次敏锐地从老太太的裹脚布里找到了矛盾的核心：“Real love isn't ambivalent.”在他“最喜欢的平装畅销小说”里，种族势必将爱隔离；在路易斯和普莱尔之间，癌宣判了爱的死刑。伯利兹就是这么犀利，路易斯瞬间崩盘：
-Tell him I love him. Can you do that？
-I've thought about it for a very long time, and I still don't understand what love is. Justice is simple. Democracy is simple. Those things are unambivalent. But love is very hard. And it goes bad for you if you violate the hard law of love.
-I'm dying.
-He's dying. You just wish you were.
二人互呛时提到：
路易斯·法拉堪·穆罕默德（Louis Farrakhan Muhammad），激进的黑人民运意见领袖，伊斯兰民族组织NOI的领导者，因提倡种族隔离及公开反犹太而遭人诟病。
爱德华·欧文·考奇（Edward Irving Koch），律师，曾任纽约市长。
杰西·路易斯·杰克逊（Jesse Louis Jackson），牧师，黑人民运领袖，备受敬重，曾创立以争取、保护弱势群体的利益为主要宗旨的国家彩虹联盟（National Rainbow Coalition）。但他于1984年竞选总统期间的演说中，曾使用“Hymietown”（犹太窝）一贬义词来形容纽约市，因而引起轩然大波。
伯利兹说的那本书《我爱夜晚的神秘》在现实中并不存在，“in love with the night mysterious”其实是美国音乐家科尔·波特（Cole Porter）以莎士比亚的《驯悍记》为蓝本创作的音乐剧《刁蛮公主》（Kiss Me, Kate，1948；1953年被改编为电影Kiss Me Kate）里的歌词。巧的是，波特和乔一样，也是已婚的同性恋，不过人家的婚姻是建立在知根知底、互惠互利、互助互爱的基础上，就这点来说可是乔的榜样。
普莱尔幻听到艾米莉说的希伯来语是犹太教葬礼上的祷告（El male rachamim），巨大的精神压力一步步将他推向天使的召唤：
...I feel like something terrifying is on its way, you know, like a missile from outer space, and it's plummeting down towards the earth, and I'm ground zero....
（舞台提示：舞台上突然火光一闪，传出雄壮的万人大合唱，然后地面上升起一根红色的金属柱子，上面架着一本巨大的书，它的每张纸都是钢做的。那本书打开了，里面刻着一个很大的希伯来文第一个字母Aleph，它化为火焰，然后书本马上合起来，降入地下消失，灯光恢复正常。艾米莉仍然在表上填写着，完全没有注意到这些。普莱尔脸上有种充满渴望的激动。）
第三场
哈珀。
乔。
爱斯基摩人（The Eskimo）：由扮演乔的演员饰。
舞台提示
当日。哈珀在一个非常寒冷的地方，地面一片雪白，天上晴空万里，有细微的雪花飘落。她穿着一件漂亮的冬装。远处传来海浪声。
本场是紧接着第二幕第九场的。冰天雪地的“南极”是冻结情感的避难所，哈珀却不甘于麻木伪装的安全感，不顾“幻觉的法则”提出种种任性的要求。第一幕第七场，哈珀曾对普莱尔说，头脑不能凭空捏造非经验、非现实，想象力不能创造新事物，幻觉只能是现实碎片的回收重组——她不相信思想的创造力，意识的能动性，而这正是后来“先知”战胜天使的武器——照她的理论，爱斯基摩人的出现本应是现实发出的警报，她却欢天喜地投奔而去，可见在意识深处，她宁愿活在乔的谎言里。
第四场
人物
南布朗克斯的女人（The Woman in the South Bronx）：由扮演天使的演员饰。
汉娜。
舞台提示
当日，南布朗克斯区一个肮脏不堪的三不管地带。一个无家可归的女人站在燃烧的汽油桶旁烤火，天上下着雪，垃圾遍地。汉娜拖着两个笨重的行李入场。
本场是汉娜卖掉老家的房子来到纽约，在机场就等儿子不来，一个人迷路街头，只得求问精神不大正常的女流浪汉——“Oh yeah. In the new century I think we will all be insane.”
第五场
人物
乔。
罗伊。
埃塞尔·罗森堡（Ethel Rosenberg）：与其夫朱利叶斯·罗森堡（Julius Rosenberg）一起因间谍罪于1953年被处死。由扮演汉娜的演员饰。
舞台提示
当日。乔和罗伊在罗伊的砖红色大楼的书房内。罗伊穿着一件高雅的浴袍。他其实病得不轻了，虽然已经设法掩盖自己的病容，但效果并不大。
尽管谢绝罗伊的offer时，乔还是没看清他的真面目，但他至少做出了决定，做对了决定。他愚蠢的示爱刺激了罗伊，“严父”扯下假面，渗出毒液的丑陋不堪入目。乔信仰的立场、秩序、正派，有毒的美丽泡沫一个个被戳破了。
罗森堡夫妇间谍案时至今日仍存在争议（有证据表明，朱利叶斯可能参与了间谍活动，而埃塞尔并没有，至少够不上死刑的程度），但罗伊在审判中欧文·罗伯特·考夫曼（Irving Robert Kaufman）法官的非法行为确实对判决产生了影响。最令我悲哀的是，罗伊对闯入男性政治战场的埃塞尔的仇恨掺杂了很多私人因素——如果她不是犹太人，或者不是女性？在我看来，他有严重的身份认同障碍，身为犹太人却谋害同族，身为同性恋却镇压同志。可想而知，日后当他知晓乔的秘密时，受到的打击会有多大。F*ck traitors. F*ck communists. F*ck legal. F*ck nice. F*ck the Nation. F*ck yourself.
千禧年，耶稣将再度降临，撒旦被打入地狱。作为剧中魔鬼的化身，罗伊大势已去成为必然。
-I have all the time in the world.
-You're immortal.
-I'm immortal. Ethel. I have forced my way into history. I ain't never gonna die.
-History is about to crack wide open. Millennium approaches.
第六场
人物
普莱尔。
普莱尔1。
普莱尔2。
路易斯。
舞台提示
当天深夜。普莱尔的卧房内。普莱尔1和普莱尔互相对看着，普莱尔躺在床上，非常害怕。今晚，普莱尔1穿着古代的衣服，外面罩了一件炼金术士的怪袍和一顶帽子，手持一束长长的棕榈叶。
...he wants someone familiar. A partner who knows his steps.
（舞台提示：普莱尔睁开眼睛，路易斯出现。他看起来非常帅。曲子逐渐加入其他乐器合奏，成为一支浪漫的舞曲。）
记忆中的他，容颜未改，健康如初，青春生动。我已忘了为何而来，别去打扰，尽情舞蹈。
Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way
Two drifters, off to see the world, there's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting around the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river and me
The twentieth century. Oh dear, the world has gotten so terribly, terribly old.
多希望这“月亮河”曾被天使搅扰，治愈疾痛，洗刷罪恶，冲破阻隔，使此刻，永远。
本场的呈现，泪不能停。一眼就能看出，他们之间，爱还在。尽管当普莱尔从甜蜜中醒来，残破的身心，跌落在地，我依然愿意相信，这不只是祖先的幽灵安抚未来先知的糖果——为何不可能，这是梦境的相通，路易斯失落的灵魂，就在公园的长椅上，和他在一起。
第七场
人物
普莱尔。
路易斯。
乔。
天使（The Angel）：是四种光和热的化身，分别为荧光（Fluor）、磷光（Phosphor）、明光（Lumen）和烛光（Candle），化为一体就是“美国天使”（Continental Principality of America）。她有一对华丽的银灰色翅膀。
舞台提示
舞台上分为两景：普莱尔独自在他的公寓里；路易斯独自在公园里。
路易斯！！普莱尔脱口而出的名字，在公园的长椅上，却等来了乔——但你知道吗，你将得到的只是一具躯壳：
-Well I fooled you. Crocodile tears. Nothing...
-I'm a pretty terrible person, Louis. NO, I really really am. I don't think I deserve being loved.
-There？ See？ We already have a lot in common.
路易斯问乔是否知道拉撒路的故事——对，就是第三幕第二场普莱尔自比的那个拉撒路。乔傻乎乎地“预言”耶稣会把普莱尔救活，然后美滋滋地跟着“真爱”滚床单去了。我是该说恭喜，还是该说感谢呢？
（舞台提示：雄壮的乐声大起，紧接着，灯光变成非常冷酷的淡蓝色，然后又转成温暖、亮丽的金色，又变成可怖的惨绿，最后是一片高贵美丽的紫色。声音静下来。）
God almighty... Very Steven Spielberg.（弯译：戏剧高贵，谢绝煽情。）
（舞台提示：一个似流星下坠般的声音从地球的极高处，极为猛力地朝着卧室撞击过来；当这个不知名的物体接近时，房间里的光线似乎都被它吸走，等到屋里全黑时，又听到如陨石撞地球般的巨响，整栋建筑开始摇晃，卧室部分的天花板、许多灰泥、板条、电线等纷纷掉落在地面。之后，在一片幽幽的白色光束之中，天使展开着她巨大的银灰色翅膀，从空中降下，飘浮在床的上方。）
剧本里，普莱尔在屁滚尿流间还不忘幽他一默，可惜迷你剧没敢让斯皮尔伯格躺枪。除了体现了作者的节操，放在舞台上，想来也会有一定的间离效果，使观众意识到，一切尚在人间。
Greetings, Prophet;
The Great Work begins:
The Messenger has arrived.
千禧年将至，这不是最好的时代，也不是最坏的时代。这是一个凶残的时代，黎明前的黑暗，心碎才是生存的方式。
第一部分结束
第二部：http://movie.douban.com/review/7384586/
《天使在美国》观后感(七)：Every American is related to Prior Walter (Such an idiotic title back then. Every American White Guy
Introduction In the past century, the LGBT in America have fought long and hard for their equal rights. The majority of Americans are now in favor of homosexual marriage, while as lately as 1989 merely a little more than 10 percent of the nation liked this idea (Smith). Gay writers have played a big role in this shift, as Christopher Bram writes: “The gay revolution began as a literary revolution” (qtd. in Smith). According to him, The Second World War and the civil rights movements in the 1960s have helped normalizing gay’s social image, however that progress was impeded by the epidemic of AIDS. Gram argues: “Antigay politicians now used the disease to resist campaigns for tolerance and equality” (qtd. in Smith). The circumstance is especially so in the Reagan Era as he championed traditional family and Christian values, protecting the mainstream rich and neglecting the needs of those who pose alternative religious and political stances, especially gays and AIDS patients. The gay rights movement retreated, and they desperately needed a voice to preclude from being ostracized and misread by the mainstream values. So, gay writings were “invigorated” (Smith). This is when Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: a Gay Fantasia on National Themes stepped on the stage of history. In 1991, the first part of Kushner’s play, Angels in America: Approaching the Millennium received its premier in San Francisco, and the second part: Perestroika premiered in 1992. By the time that Kushner officially published the complete work in 1995, Angels had already earned one Pulitzer and two Tony Awards accompanied with a great number of other awards and nominations. Being a Jewish homosexual, Kushner was well aware of the problems described by Bram, and he saliently highlighted AIDS and homosexuality at the center of the stage. Among the eight main characters, all the five males are homosexual and two of these five have AIDS. Kushner puts them in New York City in 1985, amidst the Reagan Era, and lets them demonstrate the intolerance of the conservative mainstream. The right-wing thinking at the time prevailed, and the Reaganite Republicanism encouraged prejudiced opinions on gays. Every gay character of Kushner’s suffers impact from that environment. Prior Walter, Louis Ironson, and Belize are out of the closet. And according to Prior, he and Belize even used to be drag queens (Part One, Act II, Scene 5). They are fine with exposing their sexuality to the unaccepting world. On the other hand, Joe Pitt and Roy Cohn are very much closeted. Contrary to the attitude of Prior’s group, Joe and Roy both reject the identity of gay – Joe responses “No, I’m not!” immediately as Louis comments “Well oh boy, a gay Republican” (Part One, Act I, Scene 6), and Roy delivers a big speech to his doctor about power contrasting gayness after being diagnosed of AIDS (Part One, Act I, Scene 9). However, whether revealing or concealing their sexuality, they all face both fear and threat from AIDS, and the censure from the conservative mainstream. Since the existence of contradictions in the characters’ sexuality, religious, moral, and political inclinations, throughout the play, they are confronted with choices with regard to political, religious, and personal identity. The character Louis particularly takes an ambiguous stance on political and social issues of the country as he asserts “I’m ambivalent” (Part One, Act III, Scene 2). The other characters, though not saying so and some -- such as Roy Cohn-- even seeming very sure of their own view and place in the world, all have a trait of ambivalence in their character. And as they go through “several separate but inevitably intertwined relationships that are complicated by homosexuality and AIDS” (McCallum 3), the result, as Ranen Omer-Sherman observes, is that “By the end of the drama each of these characters will have not only experienced, but embraced, startling changes and shifts in identity” (Omer-Sherman 16). How does a play deliver its meaning if it is full of ambivalence and doubt？ This question can be one of the reasons why critic Lee Siegel called it in The New Republic, “a second-rate play written by a second-rate playwright who happens to be gay,” and an “overwrought, coarse, posturing, formulaic mess” (Siegel). Notwithstanding Siegel’s opinion, it is David Savran’s assertion that the ambivalence in each individual character is not messy at all, but as a whole unequivocally champions a certain ideology – liberal pluralism (Savran 219), which he thinks remains the best hope for tolerance and change (Savran 223). I am more inclined to agree with Savran and do not think that Angels is a mess, and I see a strong connection between the ambivalent characters and the idea of tolerance and acceptance. As Kushner said in a video interview: ［I］f the play works, you just feel everybody go “Oh my God, we are not isolated individuals, lost one another, and we don’t stop at our own skins. We share something.” It’s like a momentary experience of the universal mind. (Kushner, interview by Signature Theater Company) That is, no matter how queer and unique the characters are, they can be reached, related to, and united through their ambivalent identities. The thesis intends to examine the traits of “ambivalent identity” of the key characters. The purpose of the analysis is to show the relationship between an ambiguous identity in a person and the idea of tolerance and catholicity that is needed by people of the minority. If we fail to recognize the fact that people of different religion, sexual orientation, and political agenda are all ordinary human with common ground on other respects, reading/watching Angels would be like a perfunctory trip that is none of our business. Thus, on the basis of close reading and textual analysis, the research demonstrates how Kushner probes into the identity struggling characters, and expresses his appeals for tolerance and compassion to the gay community. The following is the format of the research: besides the Introduction and Conclusion, four chapters establish the main body of the paper, successively discussing the ambivalent identity of characters in this order: Prior, Roy, Louis and Joe, Hannah. They each addresses how the ambivalence of the character is caused and presented, and then analyses their connection with the theme of tolerance. Lastly, the research findings will be summarized in Conclusion, which demonstrates Kushner’s hopes for tolerance in America. Chapter One The Ambivalent Identity of Prior Walter Prior Walter is considered by many critics such as Kimberly Lynn Dyer to be the hero of the play, but before the Angel comes to him, Prior is just a heartbroken gay man who is dying from AIDS. Kushner portrays the Reagan era as “dysfunctional” (Dyer V), and Prior’s condition can be an epitome of that. Abandoned by Louis, angry in pain, hallucinating in his own room, talking to the ghosts, these images of darkness and depression all contradict his heroic figure. Therefore, the largest ambivalence in Prior’s character is his imminent mortality and his identity as “America’s hero” (Dyer V), i.e. his weakness and his strength. Prior Walter’s homosexuality is, as he brandishes himself, “stereotypical” (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 4). He speaks in a femininely refined manner, taking part of his soliloquy for example: “One wants to move through life with elegance and grace, blossoming infrequently but with exquisite taste, and perfect timing, like a rare bloom, a zebra orchid…” (Part One, Act I, Scene 7). Also, he wears make-up to deal with “emotional emergency” (Part One, Act I, Scene 7). He curses all the time, and he carries HIV. Facing AIDS and death, Prior frequently shows his frustration and vulnerability. After his fantastical encounter with Harper, he looks in the mirror and says, “I don't think there's any uninfected part of me. My heart is pumping polluted blood. I feel dirty,” and at the end of the scene he morns, “Poor me. Poor poor me. Why me？ Why poor poor me？” (Part One, Act I, Scene 7). In the hospital with Belize, he suddenly bursts out desperately, “I don't remember, I don't give a fuck. I want Louis. I want my fucking boyfriend, where the fuck is he？ I'm dying, I'm dying, where's Louis？” (Part One, Act II, Scene 5). Even after the angel tells him that he is the Prophet (Part Two, Act II, Scene 2), he still shows a lot of despair. After his friend’s funeral, refuting Belize’s consolation, he complains with an especially pessimistic tone: “A great queen; big fucking deal. That ludicrous spectacle in there, just a parody of the funeral of someone who really counted. We don't; faggots; we're just a bad dream the real world is having, and the real world's waking up. And he's dead” (Part Two, Act II, Scene 1). Apparently, the discrimination from the rest of the “real world” and the trauma from both AIDS and Louis’s abandonment have taken some of his faith away. And then, there is another side of Prior, one with courage and vision. Contrary to what he said earlier about his “polluted blood,” when the Angel approaches and he gets scared, he goes through a little ritual to stay calm: “no, no fear, find the anger, find the… anger, my blood is clean, my brain is fine, I can handle pressure, I am a gay man and I am used to pressure, to trouble, I am tough and strong” (Part One, Act III, Scene 7), which we can assume is a mechanism he has used before. After this, his role as a prophetic hero begins. Here, before reading into his heroic figure, we can still see weakness even when Prior is accepting the role, as he still shows ambivalence. On the one hand, he cannot be sure if his encounter with the supernatural actually happened. On the other hand, he somehow believes the whole experience and meditates on it. When he discusses this with Belize, he says “I’m almost completely sure of it” (Part Two, Act II, Scene 1). Then when Belize questions the truthfulness of the story, he gets into a debate with him: PRIOR (Overlapping): I hardly think it's appropriate for you to get offended, I didn't invent this shit it was visited on me… BELIZE (Overlapping on "offended"): But it is offensive or at least monumentally confused and it's not… visited, Prior. By who？ It is from you, what else is it？ PRIOR: Something else. BELIZE: That's crazy. PRIOR: Then I'm crazy. BELIZE: No, you're… PRIOR: Then it was an angel. BELIZE: It was not an... PRIOR: Then I'm crazy. The whole world is, why not me？ (Part Two, Act II, Scene 2) The ambivalence as to whether to accept the prophetic role indicates again the vulnerable and despair side of Prior, having lost faith in reality. However, it is because of the despair that Prior is willing to believe his fantasia: “Maybe I am a prophet. Not just me, all of us who are dying now” (Part Two, Act II, Scene 2). Finally, albeit still in ambivalence, Prior decides to deal with the Angel no matter she is real or not. When Hannah fearfully refuses to deal with the angel in the hospital, saying “I don't, I don't, this is a dream it's a dream it's a...,” Prior responses quite comically: “I don't think that's really the point right at this particular moment” (Part Two, Act V, Scene 1). So he chooses to confront the angel, going with his guts and rejecting the vision. The most heroic part is his short appearance in Heaven, returning the tome, shaking his fate, giving instructions to the Angels, and asking for life (Part Two, Act V, Scene 5). Not only because in this scene Prior’s speech shows certainty, clarity and determination (On the notion of “stop moving” he refutes, “It's animate, it's what living things do,” touching the notion of progress that Kushner tries to convey; referring to God, he tells them to “sue the bastard,” as if talking about Louis, which reminds us again of the uncertainty of the truthfulness of his Prophet identity; then, though he is told by the Angels that AIDS cannot be stopped, he demands, “Bless me anyway. I want more life. I can't help myself.”), but also because he tosses off the Angel’s manipulation, as the Angel here represents Reagan Era values. I hereby allude to Dyer’s argument that the Angel in Angels is linked to human institutions, capitalism, self-interest, and Celestial Apparatchiks (Dyer 8). Therefore, there is a sense of survival and triumph as Prior goes back to a world without the Angels, though still with AIDS, still with his socially and politically prejudiced homosexuality, and of course still with his vulnerability. The victory belongs to his stereotypical gayness, feminine, weak, but increasingly stronger. Dyer also quotes John Paul Middlesworth, that Kushner “finds the epic mode irresistible and creates in Prior Walter a hero, making the character a spokesperson for his community during historical crisis, the emergence of AIDS as an epidemic” (qtd. in Dyer 11). Therefore, Prior as a member of the vulnerable and dying stands out to be optimistic and vigorous, as he talks to the audience with warm hope at the end of the epilogue, “We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come. Bye now. You are fabulous creatures, each and every one. And I bless you: More Life. The Great Work Begins” (Epilogue). To sum up, this chapter discusses Prior Walter’s ambivalent identity between a dying gay with AIDS and a hero. By making Prior stand up as a representative of the weak and dying and of the disparaged, Kushner expresses his view that strength, integrity and goodness can be found in gayness, which deserves some respect and tolerance in the world. Chapter Two The Ambivalent Identity of Roy Cohn Kushner’s Roy Cohn is known to be enjoyed by critics (Hilton 20). According to Melissa Hilton, Richard Hornby says the character Cohn is a “Brutal, manic, lying manipulator, a Richard III without a hump” (qtd. in Hilton 21). Don Shewey observes, “［T］he stage is dominated by Roy Cohn, a tour de force role: Flagrantly unpleasant, shrewdly seductive, the Devil incarnate” (qtd. in Hilton 21). In this chapter, the thesis will show that the generally acknowledged viciousness of Roy Cohn derives from his ambivalent identity, and then discuss the ambivalent attitude that Kushner has toward him. Social-Darwinism and self-interest is the center of Roy Cohn’s philosophy. On life he pontificates, “I see the universe, Joe, as a kind of sandstorm in outer space with winds of mega-hurricane velocity, but instead of grains of sand it's shards and splinters of glass” (Part One, Act I, Scene 2). He also teaches Joe Pitt: Life is full of horror; nobody escapes, nobody; save yourself. Whatever pulls on you, whatever needs from you, threatens you. Don't be afraid; people are so afraid; don't be afraid to live in the raw wind, naked, alone. . . . Learn at least this: What you are capable of. Let nothing stand in your way. (Part One, Act II, Scene 4) Indeed, in Roy Cohn’s life, nothing apart from death could stand in his way. On the basis of Italian scholar Umberto Eco’s outline of features of fascism, Hilton even argues that Kushner’s Roy Cohn is a categorical fascist (24). Indeed, many of Roy’s talks brazenly advocate contempt to the weak and the dissident and embraces power at all cost, which is what, as Prior and Kushner consider, foments injustice and endangers the country. One of the examples is when he brags about his lawyering masterpiece of securing Ethel Rosenberg’s death: Why？ Because I fucking hate traitors. Because I fucking hate communists. Was it legal？ Fuck legal. Am I a nice man？ Fuck nice. They say terrible things about me in the Nation. Fuck the Nation. You want to be Nice, or you want to be Effective？ Make the law, or subject to it. (Part One, Act III, Scene 5) However, Roy’s malignant attitude contradicts his own identity. Before he is a Reaganite Republican, he is a Jewish homosexual. But he belittles people from both categories. In reality, Roy Cohn was Joe McCarthy’s “vicious boy-henchman, expert in publicly humiliating and smearing alleged communists and homosexuals (nearly all of them Jewish)” (qtd. in Hilton 19). He is the alienator, traitor even, to his own group. In Angels we can find congruent statements. “But the thing about the American Negro is, he never went Communist. Loser Jews did” (Part Two, Act I, Scene 5), as if he is racist to his own race. Most importantly, Cohn equates homosexuality with weakness, and steers clear with that identity, as he instructs his doctor not to mistake him as a homosexual in this scene: ROY: Homosexuals are not men who sleep with other men. Homosexuals are men who in fifteen years of trying cannot get a pissant antidiscrimination bill through City Council. Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows. Who have zero clout. Does this sound like me, Henry？ HENRY: No. ROY: No. I have clout. A lot. I can pick up this phone, punch fifteen numbers, and you know who will be on the other end in under five minutes, Henry？ HENRY: The President. ROY: Even better, Henry. His wife. HENRY: I'm impressed. ROY: I don't want you to be impressed. I want you to understand. This is not sophistry. And this is not hypocrisy. This is reality…Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man, Henry, who fucks around with guys. HENRY: OK, Roy. ROY: And what is my diagnosis, Henry？ HENRY: YOU have AIDS, Roy. ROY: NO, Henry, no. AIDS is what homosexuals have. I have liver cancer. (Part One, Act I, Scene 9) Contrary to Roy’s own excuses, this is obviously sophistry, and the fact that he can blatantly twist the obvious shows how hypocritical and cowardly he is about who he really is. The ambivalence of Roy Cohn sets off his image as a satanic villain. Then it is naturally acceptable that the honest Prior could live while the savage Roy dies. He is an activist of the right-wing intolerance, but he ends up a victim of the Right (Hilton 41). However, although Kushner’s Roy is meant to be so bad and to be hated so much, Kushner deliberately creates space for the audience/reader to feel compassionate for Roy. Approaching his demise, physically, Roy suffers from frequent and painful spasms, but what he cares more about is his reputation of prowess, his legacy. “After I die they'll say it was for the money and the headlines. But it was never the money: It's the moxie that counts. I never wavered. You: remember” (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 1), he tells Joe. So it hurts him tremendously that he is disbarred. So at last he takes a cheap stunt of faking death, trying to win for the last time: “I fooled you Ethel, I knew who you were all along, I can't believe you fell for that ma stuff, I just wanted to see if I could finally, finally make Ethel Rosenberg sing! I WIN” (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 9). But under such circumstances, the cheaper his stunt is, the more deplorable he gets. As Hilton observes, “Despite the despicable and hypocritical aspects of Kushner’s Cohn, the play generates sympathy for the man Cohn, as he is dying of AIDS. The audience’s ambivalent feelings toward Cohn – disgust mixed with compassion – generate some of the most powerful tension in Angels” (Hilton, 21). This kind of ambivalence is actually portrayed in the play, as Belize tries to give friendly medical advices to Roy: ROY: YOU hate me. BELIZE: Yes. ROY: Why are you telling me this？ BELIZE: I wish I knew. ROY (Very nasty): You're a butterfingers spook faggot nurse. I think ... you have little reason to want to help me. BELIZE: Consider it solidarity. One faggot to another. (Part Two, Act I, Scene 5) In this way, Cohn’s “actions repulse us but” his “suffering moves us” (Hilton, 21). Therefore, the idea of compassion and tolerance is embedded. To sum up, this chapter discusses the ambivalence of Roy Cohn. He is Jewish but he treats Jews as a group of enemies. He is gay but he treats gay as weak grass roots of the society. Ostensibly, he sticks to a solid way of life, but actually, he turns his back on himself and the people like him. Kushner perfectly portrays the ambivalent and ironic aspect of his character, but generates compassion for his death. In my opinion, any death from AIDS is worth grievance to Kushner, and that is a message he wants to send in order to get people’s attention on the issue of AIDS, and encourage tolerance. He has succeeded in this regard. Chapter Three The Ambivalent Identity of Louis and Joe The experience of Louis parallels with that of Joe Pitt, as they both abandon someone they have responsibilities for, and somehow their stories also intersect with each other by becoming lovers. Louis’s ambivalence is explicit in the play on religious, political and moral respects. To begin with, morally, he is troubled by the contradiction between his need for love and his fear for death and loss. From the beginning, he reveals to Prior after the service for his grandmother that he had abandoned her for a decade, “I never visited. She looked too much like my mother” (Part One, Act I, Scene 4). Later after the funeral he confesses to his Rabbi that he cannot “incorporate sickness into his sense of how things are supposed to go,” and “vomit… and sores and disease… really frighten him” (Part One, Act I, Scene 5). He loves Prior very much, but till the end he still fails in loving him. I really failed you. He explains to Prior, “Failing in love isn't the same as not loving. It doesn't let you off the hook, it doesn't mean ... you're free to not love” (Part Two, Act V, Scene8). In addition, Louis’s religious, political and moral concerns also conflict with each other. For example, he thinks his passion for the law and for politics cannot be fulfilled because of his Jewish identity: Jews don't have any clear textual guide to the afterlife; even that it exists. I don't think much about it. I see it as a perpetual rainy Thursday afternoon in March. Dead leaves…Well for us it's not the verdict that counts, it's the act of judgment. That's why I could never be a lawyer. In court all that matters is the verdict. (Part One, Act I, Scene 8) Also, as he attempts to seek moral relief from his religion, his Rabbi’s response enfeebles his Jewish identity: “RABBI ISIDOR CHEMELWITZ: You want to confess, better you should find a priest. LOUIS: But I'm not a Catholic, I'm a Jew. RABBI ISIDOR CHEMELWITZ: Worse luck for you, bubbulah. Catholics believe in forgiveness. Jews believe in Guilt.” (Part One, Act I, Scene5) In the meanwhile, politically, Louis’s left-wing liberal view of politics starts to unveil in his conversation with Belize, who describes them as “yaddadda yaddadda blah blah blah” (Part One, Act III, Scene 2). What complicates things is the fact that he admits of being racist, which contradicts a liberal thinking, to which Belize comments, “Oh I really hate that! It's no fun picking on you Louis; you're so guilty” (Part One, Act III, Scene 2). But the most ambivalent part of Louis comes with his affair with Joe Pitt. His guilt and love for Prior, who needs him too, makes him extremely lonely, and yet his solution is to find companionship from Joe, whose Reaganite Republican and Mormon background cannot be any more incompatible with his own ideal. He cannot get around the question of “how can a fundamentalist theocratic religion function participatorily in a pluralist secular democracy？” (Part Two, Act III, Scene 3). He and Joe can never find common ground on Reagan. But as he confesses, “This is interesting. I'm losing myself in an ideological leather bar. The more appalling I find your politics the more I want to hump you” (Part Two, Act III, Scene 4). The case that Kushner presents here is a conflict between human nature and political ideal. It makes Louis very complex and hard to define, and the harder it gets for us to define this person, the more possibilities and ideas he embraces, which adheres to the theme of “liberal pluralism” (Savran 219), a calling for tolerance. Joe Pitt is also very unsure of his choices, his belief, and his future. His ambivalence is not like Louis’s, only between nature and his political outlook. His good nature – austerity, ethicality, etc. – is largely shaped by his Mormon belief, which is also the source of his right wing conservatism. However, since politics is not a church of dignity but an arena of power that requires indecency, as Roy Cohn teaches him, he cannot find a way to fulfill both his religious and political ambition. This can be complex enough, although it must be Joe’s wishful thinking that his predicament stays binary, but he has a third identity – he is a closeted homosexual who has a wife. Thus, his ambivalence proliferates. His gayness contradicts his religion, since the Mormon Church “don’t believe in homosexuals” (Part One, Act I, Scene 7). His gayness also contradicts his partisanship, because gays are not equally treated by the right-wing agenda. He is obligated two-fold to hate gays, therefore to hate himself, and a part of him has been doing it for years. He tells Harper “I pray for God to crush me, break me up into little pieces and start all over again” (Part One, Act II, Scene 2). And then he confesses to her, “I try to tighten my heart into a knot, a snarl, I try to learn to live dead, just numb, but then I see someone I want, and it's like a nail, like a hot spike right through my chest, and I know I'm losing” (Part One, Act II, Scene 9). The misery caused by decades of self-denial and the frailty by lengthily desired happiness and freedom, these are some powerful emotions to be exposed in front of the audience. This is a crucial point where different experiences and even prejudices are exchanged and even challenged. As Joe finally decides to let go of any past bridle and stay with Louis, he is at last happy. As he tells Louis, “I keep expecting divine retribution for this, but... I'm actually happy” (Part Two, Act III, Scene 4). However bothered by the concern that his wife is abandoned and lost due to his happiness, he tries not to care about it. “What you did when you walked out on him was hard to do,” says he when he tries to convince Louis to stay with him, “the world may not understand it or approve but you did what you needed to do. And I consider you very brave” (Part Two, Act III, Scene 4). It is a line of exoneration not only needed by Louis, but also desperately needed by Joe himself, indicating that no matter how acceptable he tells himself his conducts are, deep inside, he has a sense of guilt. Sure enough, his argument that he and Louis both fundamentally want the same thing contradicts the ideological and political differences between them, and as he is confronted by Louis regarding his court decision against his conscience, their differences maximizes. He cannot get back to Louis, without a trace of anybody that can either love him or be loved by him. At this point, sexual satisfaction has to become peripheral, and the thing more important is to keep his wife who loves him. So when Harper finally decides to leave him, he implores, “I don't know what will happen to me without you. Only you. Only you love me. Out of everyone in the world. I have done things, I'm ashamed. But I have changed. I don't know how yet, but Please, please, don't leave me now” (Part Two, Act V, Scene 8). Is Joe ashamed of his sexuality again？ Or does he simply say that just to keep Harper staying with him？ In what way has he “changed”？ Judging from his joyous and free status when he is with Louis, I’d say he can never go back to the life of self-denial. As for Joe’s ending in this story, Kushner does not specify. His future is not given any deｓｃｒｉｐｔion, leaving a large space for interpretation. It may be because Kushner himself cannot be sure, as to how a decent homosexual Republican lawyer can find a right path. But the door of that discussion has certainly been opened. However, as far as I am concerned, the future of Joe Pitt is not important. What matters is what Kushner has shown us, the misery it causes by pretending to be something you are not, and doing things inconsistent with your good heart, which are both productions of the pressure from Reaganite conservatism. In conclusion, Louis and Joe are both struggling with their ambivalent identities, from which they suffer a lot. Louis’s biggest quagmire is the fear of imperfection in life, such as death and guilt, and at last it is his rather steady political principles that cause him to leave Joe, so he travels a big circle from Prior to Joe and then back to Prior. Joe’s predicament is his sexual orientation which contradicts his religion and the Republican doctrine that he approves. When the play ends, Louis loses his lover Prior but he can still hang out with him, while Joe remains alone with an unclear future. Although gayness is still a noticeable identity in the two characters, their complexity raises questions involving more than sexuality, that is Kushner’s political vision. Metaphorically, Joe’s sullen ending embodies the fact that, under gay scrutiny, the Reaganite Republicanism is numb, unjust and detrimental, incapable of welcoming and defending the needs of the minority. Chapter Four The Ambivalent Identity of Hannah Joe’s mother, Hannah, does not appear in as many scenes as Belize and Harper, but she is more fitting to the subject of ambivalence and tolerance. That is why the last chapter only discusses Hannah and forgoes the analysis of the other two characters. Our first impression of Hannah is that she is a very harsh and religious Mormon. Because there is no place for gays in Mormon Church, as Harper reveals, “In my church, we don’t believe in homosexuals” (Part One, Act I, Scene 7), when she gets her son’s phone call at three o’clock in the morning, and learns that Joe is a homosexual, she could barely process the news: HANNAH: YOU really ought to go home now to your wife. I need to go to bed. This phone call. . . . We will just forget this phone call. JOE: Mom. HANNAH: NO more talk. Tonight. This… (Suddenly very angry) Drinking is a sin! A sin! I raised you better than that. (She hangs up) (Part One, Act Two, Scene 8) As this scene shows, Hannah is not ready to accept Joe’s homosexuality. Not only that, at a time when her son is in need of support and direction, she simply flees from the topic, and even criticizes Joe’s drinking. This is a very cold reaction. However, based on people’s impression on Mormonism, it is probable that not many people would find it surprising. That is why this scene actually strengthens people’s prejudice against Mormons, who are considered rigid, harsh odd, and certainly anti-gay. When Hannah appears for the second time, she is already in New York, lost. Joe fails to show up to pick his mother up, and she is understandably angry. The conversation between her and the homeless woman reveals very little more about her, but she does express some opinion on an issue that slightly touches politics, i.e. immigration: I asked the driver was this Brooklyn, and he nodded yes but he was from one of those foreign countries where they think it's good manners to nod at everything even if you have no idea what it is you're nodding at, and in truth I think he spoke no English at all, which I think would make him ineligible for employment on public transportation. The public being English-speaking, mostly. (Part One, Act III, Scene 4) It is a comment that implies a very tenuous hostility to immigrants, plus our first impression of her, Hannah emits conservatism. It’s when Prior meets Hannah in the Mormon Visitor’s Center and later in the hospital that we see another side of her. First of all, when Prior gets very uncomfortable and asks her to call him a cab (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 4), she takes Prior to the hospital even though she does not have to come along, which, considering the attitude toward homosexuality that we assume she bears, is very generous. And she continues to surprise us. But first of all, Hannah will not discard her conservative values, and her discussion with Prior circles around religion. Prior thinks that he must be insane to have seen an Angel, but Hannah tells him the story of Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, which is amazingly similar to Prior’s encounter. “He had great need of understanding. Our Prophet. His desire made prayer. His prayer made an angel. The angel was real. I believe that” (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 6). At this point, it is more obvious that Hannah values her religion very much. That is why it should be surprising to us that her view about homosexual is very clement, which is expressed in the scene that follows: PRIOR: I don't. And I'm sorry but it's repellent to me. So much of what you believe. HANNAH: What do I believe？ PRIOR: I'm a homosexual. With AIDS. I can just imagine what you... HANNAH: No you can't. Imagine. The things in my head. You don't make assumptions about me, mister; I won't make them about you. PRIOR (A beat; he looks at her, then): Fair enough. HANNAH: My son is ... well, like you. PRIOR: Homosexual. HANNAH (A nod, then): I flew into a rage when he told me, mad as hornets. At first I assumed it was about his . . . (She shrugs) PRIOR: Homosexuality. HANNAH: But that wasn't it. Homosexuality. It just seems ... ungainly. Two men together. It isn't an appetizing notion but then, for me, men in any configuration ... well they're so lumpish and stupid. And stupidity gets me cross. PRIOR: I wish you would be more true to your demographic profile. Life is confusing enough. (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 6) Hannah clearly denies Prior’s presumption that she must be homophobic because of her Mormon beliefs. She just finds it not an appetizing notion which does not have that much of a difference from any other notion that is unappetizing, as if she were saying, “homosexuality does not offend me; it does not offend my God, only I am just a little not fond of it, the same as I am not fond of pornography.” It’s actually a very accepting attitude, because it is natural for heterosexuals to feel uncomfortable about gays being intimate, only it should not permits different social status. Hannah being so moderate on this issue, no wonder Prior feels confusing. After this, she has more progressive opinions about Prior’s vision as Prior asks her what would happen if he doesn’t want to be the Prophet: PRIOR: The prophets in the Bible, do they... ever refuse their vision？ HANNAH: There's ｓｃｒｉｐｔural precedent, yes. PRIOR: And what does God do to them？ When they do that？ HANNAH: He____ Well, he feeds them to whales. (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 6) Then she tells Prior to disregard the tradition in the Bible, “An angel is just a belief, with wings and arms that can carry you. It's naught to be afraid of. If it lets you down, reject it. Seek for something new” (Part Two, Act IV, Scene 6). It is very fresh to see someone who takes her religion extremely serious to pose the idea that a belief can be changing, progressive. It is certainly not something that Roy Cohn and Ronald Reagan would want to encourage. At the end of the play, although it is unknown if Joe is living with his mother, Hannah finds herself a new family. “The couple that Prior and Louis once formed is replaced by the play's final argumentative, but communal, quartet of Prior, Louis, Belize, and Hannah” (Kruger 156). A family of three gay men and an old Mormon lady shows enormous conversion on Hannah’s part. To sum up, this chapter analyzes Hannah’s moderate attitude against her very strict belief. She is certain about her religion, but she is also ambivalent about the possibility of other explanations of the world. It is Hannah who offers a sense of catholicity and wholesomeness while she, as a Mormon, is assumed to be the last person to behave like this. Through depicting the character of Hannah, Kushner describes his wishful vision for America, in which a pious believer can respect and accept the existence of alternative religious and political views. Conclusion In the 1980s, i.e. the Reagan Era, conservatism prevailed and the voice of minority, including gays’, was ignored. It is in the same period that the storm of AIDS started to rage in America, but the issue of AIDS was also ignored by Reagan. The LGBT community suffered from two kinds of discrimination, one of their sexuality, and one of AIDS. They were ostracized and rejected by the majority. Tony Kushner’s Angels in America is one of the earliest literary works that explore on this issue. Kushner says in a reflection of this play, “People who don’t recognize common cause are going to fail politically in this country. Movements that capture the imagination of people are movements that deny racism and exclusion” (Kushner & Vorlicky 16-17). Therefore, it is essential to find bits and moments in the play which call for tolerance and illuminate on common ground, in order to understand Kushner’s political ideal. The research discovers a notion of tolerance by examining the ambivalent identities of key characters. Ambivalence is a key motif of Angels, and every character is ambivalent about different elements of their identity. Prior Walter’s ambivalence lies between his vulnerable gayness and his courageous heroism, which brings integrity to the gay community, and denounces Reaganite conservative institutionalism. Roy Cohn’s ambivalence derives from the contradiction between his innate Jewish and gay identity and his disparaging attitude towards Jews and Gays, and his demise embodies the dysfunction of the Reaganite and self-interested Republicanism. Louis Ironson and Joe Pitt are both ambivalent about many things, including love and responsibility, religious and political belief and personal happiness. They represent pluralism, which, as far as Kushner is concerned, might be the best hope for change of America’s chaotic situation (Savran 223). And Joe’s struggle with his family and his uncertain ending in the play also reflects the detriment of conservatism. Hannah Pitt is very moderate. She loves and adheres to Mormon teachings, but is also in favor of the others’ freedom and right to choose and believe in what they think is right. The advocacy of tolerance can be discerned in each one of these five cases. In this way, Kushner’s purpose of conveying a political ideal that denies racism and exclusion is fulfilled. Works Cited Dyer, Kimberly Lynn. Prior Walter as Hero: a New Mythological Paradigm in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Thesis, Angelo State University. Ann Arbor: ProQuest/UMI, 2006. (Publication No. AAT. 1436344.) Hilton, Melissa. The Political Ideologies of Roy Cohn and Prior Walter: Tony Kushner’s Political Vision in Angels in America: a Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Diss., Angelo State University. Ann Arbor: ProQuest/UMI, 1997. (Publication No. AAT. 1386100.) Kruger, Steven F. “Identity and Conversion in Angels in America.” Approaching the Millennium: Essays on Angels in America. Eds. Deborah R. Geis and Steven F. Kruger. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. 151-169. Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995. Kushner, Tony and Robert Vorlicky. Tony Kushner in Conversation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998. McCallum, Robin Lee Green. Medieval Death Iconography in the Portrayal of AIDS in Angels in America. Diss., California State University. Ann Arbor: ProQuest/UMI, 2005. (Publication No. AAT. 1430838.) Omer-Sherman, Ranen. “The Fate of the Other in Tony Kushner's Angels in America.” MELUS, Vol. 32, No. 2, Thresholds, Secrets, and Knowledge Summer 2007: 7-30. Savran, David. “Ambivalence, Utopia, and a Queer Sort of Materialism: How Angels in America Reconstructs the Nation.” Theatre Journal, Vol. 47, No. 2, Gay and Lesbian Queeries (May, 1995): 207-227. Smith, Jordan Michael. “The Literary Roots of the Gay Revolution.” Page Views. 2 February 2012. 22 May 2012 <http://www.cjr.org/page_views the_ literary_roots_of_the_gay.php？page=all>. Siegel, Lee. “Angels in America.” The New Republic. 29 December 2003. 22 May 2012 <http://www.tnr.com/article/angles-america>.
《天使在美国》观后感(八)：算是一篇小观后感吧...
昨天今天都在看那不好看懂的
'Angels In America' 《天使在美国》.
宗教 伦理 疾病 政治 爱情.
一切的一切都纠缠不清.
彼此相爱 却因疾病而分开.
内心挣扎 却因宗教信仰而极力压制自己.
面对现实 却因不能面对而麻痹自己.
愿意为爱放弃一切 却还是得面对冷酷的现实.
有人说 最终以喜剧收场.
确实 结尾四人笑脸盈盈.
但Joe和Harper呢.
为Joe而感到难过.
一个人心里承担那么多.
终于遇到自己所爱的人.
却还是抛弃了他.
最后 唯一爱过他的Harper也离他而去.
也为Harper感到难过.
独守空房.
靠药片带来的幻觉维持对生活的一丝希望.
而后 一丝不挂地 释然却苦痛地.
所有幻想被彻底摔碎.
于是 突然觉得.
其实 自己不想看懂.
不想看到太多伤痕.
不想直视社会的不公.
不想每次夜深人静.
想到自己的未来只有灰暗.
会有天使降临在我身边吗。
《天使在美国》观后感(九)：《天使在美国》看·剧·本（第二部）
配图版：http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_55c03f3e0102vekr.html
第一部：http://movie.douban.com/review/7372992/
第二部 重建
卷首语是美国散文家拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson）“论艺术”（“On Art”）的名言：
ecause the soul is progressive,
it never quite repeats itself,
ut in every act attempts the production
of a new and fairer whole.
第一幕 啾
（1986.1）
关于第一幕标题spooj的含意，请自行脑补普莱尔听到voice看到angel感到power时的一系列生理反应……
第一场
人物
阿列克西·安特季卢维扬诺维奇·普利拉普萨里扬诺夫（Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov）：世界上最老的布尔什维克党员，由扮演汉娜的演员饰。
天使（The Angel）：是四种光和热的化身，分别为荧光（Fluor）、磷光（Phosphor）、明光（Lumen）和烛光（Candle），合为一体就是“美国天使”（Continental Principality of America）。她有一对华丽的银灰色翅膀。
普莱尔·沃尔特（Prior Walter）：原为路易斯·艾伦森（Louis Ironson）的男友，后被其抛弃。普莱尔在发现自己罹患艾滋病之前，偶尔帮助俱乐部做做设计或外烩，赚取外快，现则靠着一小笔信托基金维生，生活大致上还过得去。
预先录制好的声音（Taped Voice）：于第一幕第一场中介绍普利拉普萨里扬诺夫入场，于第五幕第五场中介绍天使会议（Council of Principalities），立体透视模型（diorama）致欢迎及解说词的声音，由扮演天使的演员担任。这些预先录制好的介绍词应该听起来类似：轻柔悦耳，口吻严肃而不带嘲弄，如同第一部中未露面的天使一样。
舞台提示
黑暗中，一个声音说：1986年1月，克里姆林宫会议厅。目前世界上最老的布尔什维克党员，阿列克西·安特季卢维扬诺维奇·普利拉普萨里扬诺夫。
灯光照在普利拉普萨里扬诺夫身上，他站在高台上，背后是一面巨大的红旗。他双眼全盲，奇老无比。
此一场景，迷你剧中没有呈现，其实剧本里暗藏玄机，还蛮好玩儿的。这个普利拉普萨里扬诺夫，一看就是在搞怪斯斯斯拉夫人拗拗拗口的名字，但他的姓氏显然是从prelapsarian而来，意即人类堕落前（before the fall of man），也就是亚当和夏娃偷食禁果前对神绝对服从的蒙昧时期，老老老布尔什维克的立场由此可见。1986年1月正值戈尔巴乔夫执政之初，“人类堕落前懦夫”对这条“毒蛇”带来的新经济政策和社会体制改革“苹果”不屑又恐惧。“...when we first read the Classic Texts, when in the dark vexed night of our ignorance and terror the seed-words sprouted and shoved incomprehension aside, when the incredible bloody vegetable struggle up and through into Red Blooming gave us Praxis, True Praxis, True Theory married to Actual Life...”十月革命的先驱者堕落为躺在前进路上的绊脚石。
If the snake sheds his skin before a new skin is ready, naked he will be in the world, prey to the forces of chaos. Without his skin he will be dismantled, lose coherence and die. Have you, my little serpents, a new skin？
（舞台提示：舞台上传出一阵撕扯、爆裂声，大红旗飞出，舞台灯光恢复到“千禧年近了”最后的场景：普莱尔蜷缩在床上，床上散漫了卧室天花板的裂片；天使身着耀眼的白袍，裸着双足，严肃的停在半空中，面对着他。）
-Then We dare not, we cannot, we MUST NOT move ahead!
-GO away.
第二场
人物
哈珀·阿玛蒂·皮特（Harper Amaty Pitt）：约瑟夫·波特·皮特（Joseph Porter Pitt）的妻子，患有广场恐惧症，对“安定”轻微上瘾，但她的幻想比药瘾更严重。
谎先生（Mr. Lies）：出现在哈珀幻觉中的朋友，他是个旅游代理人，但穿着和谈吐却像个爵士音乐家。他的上衣翻领上总是别着一个徽章，上刻着“IOTA”（The International Order of Travel Agents，旅游代理国际预订）。由扮演伯利兹（Belize）的演员饰。
约瑟夫·波特·皮特（Joseph Porter Pitt）：第二巡回上诉法院法官西奥多·威尔逊（Theodore Wilson）的书记长，昵称乔（Joe）。
舞台提示
“千禧年近了”最后一场的同一天晚上。风和雪的声音，魔幻的南极音乐；谎先生独自坐在哈珀幻觉中的南极，吹着双簧管。他停止演奏，举起双簧管。
哈珀拖着刚倒下的一小截松木入场。她现在穿着“千禧年近了”第二幕结束，离开公寓时随手一抓的那套衣服，探险的装备全部不见了。她在户外已待了三天，蓬头垢面，邋里邋遢。
I don't understand why I'm not dead. When your heart breaks, you should die. But there's still the rest of you. There's your breasts, and your genitals, and they're amazingly stupid, like babies or faithful dogs, they don't get it, they just want him. Want him.
第三场
人物
汉娜·波特·皮特（Hannah Porter Pitt）：约瑟夫的母亲，原来住在盐湖城，目前则住在布鲁克林。她靠着亡夫的陆军退伍金度日。
舞台提示
布鲁克林，皮特的公寓内。电话响起，汉娜穿着“千禧年近了”第三幕第四场中的外套，提着几个袋子进入公寓。她放下袋子，跑去接电话。
“She's not insane, she's just peculiar. Tell her Mother Pitt is coming.”我想，我就是从这里开始意识到之前对汉娜的印象可能错了。
第四场
人物
普莱尔。
伯利兹（Belize）：普莱尔的前任男友，曾是夜总会的扮装皇后（drag queen），现在则是专业护士（registered nurse）。他本名叫做诺曼·阿里亚加（Norman Arriaga），伯利兹是作秀（drag show）时用的花名（drag name），后来变成他的绰号。
亨利（Henry）：罗伊·科恩（Roy M. Cohn）的医生，由扮演汉娜的演员饰。
舞台提示
当夜稍晚，普莱尔独自在床上睡着。房间原封不动，没有天花板破损的痕迹。他正做着噩梦，然后醒来。
哦也，伯利兹的戏份终于来了。什么叫绝世好基友？
对普莱尔：I spent the whole day with you, I do have a life of my own, you know.
对亨利：One moment,please. This is an emergency.
不止如此，还有迷你剧中省略的部分：晒着医生，给ex当点唱机。普莱尔点的圣诞颂歌《听啊！天使高声唱》（Hark! The Herald Angels Sing），很有几分“先知”的味道：
Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!
eace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!
Joyful, all ye nations, rise;
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
作为bonus，伯利兹把“纽约头号深柜”入院的消息第一时间透露给普莱尔时，作者借普莱尔之口又揶揄了一下第一部提到过的前纽约市长爱德华·欧文·考奇（Edward Irving Koch），此人被外界普遍认为是个终身未出柜的同性恋。但更诡异的是，伯利兹刚一否认是考奇，普莱尔立刻get谁才是Killer Queen Herself了，可见坊间自有公断……
第五场
人物
罗伊·科恩（Roy M. Cohn）：成功的纽约律师，事实上也是一名权力掮客。他目前面临被取消律师资格的窘境，同时也罹患艾滋病，来日无多。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
罗伊躺在医院的病床上，又虚弱又害怕。伯利兹带着静脉点滴入场。
人啊，心气儿一高，就容易露底，好比在罗伊面前谈理想，将追求，不是被拍扁在沙滩上，就是被他抓住弱点吃定你——这是一个优秀律师的洞察，也是一个思想成熟的人的定力（中立评价）。对罗伊而言，他大半辈子的认知、经验达到了一个内部较为统一的境界，不是说他不会再感到矛盾，不会再产生冲动，而是当这种情况发生时，他会果断地用他机体内特有方式去搞定这些不稳定的因素，有时步步为营，有时粗暴直接，总之不达目的誓不罢休。远的如他解决让他不爽的“犹太间谍”的方式就是成功地置人于死地，近的如他一看到来的是个黑人护士就立刻摆出一副浑不论[lìn]。可想而知，如果伯利兹像路易斯那样负气，或者像乔一样摇摆，被这么一刺激都免不了自乱阵脚，正中罗伊下怀。
偏偏伯利兹是个滴水不漏的人，不玩儿概念，不做白日梦，见招拆招——你实用，我比你还实用，你越气急败坏，我越心安理得。换言之，伯利兹也是一个有思想定力的人，所以尽管他无法认同罗伊，更不会赦免他，倒也尽职尽责，把罗伊制得服服帖帖，正所谓一物降一物嘛。恐怕在二人第一次交手（静脉注射）时罗伊就意识到了，所以才能在这个让他牙根痒痒的“老黑”面前并非乞求地不吝说出“I don't want to be alone”。这是老吸血鬼难得的人性瞬间，但我觉得伯利兹留下来继续听疯话主要还是基于同志间的团结互助，也正是因此，他才能无差别地提醒罗伊提防他的WASP（White Anglo-Saxon Protestant，白人盎格鲁-撒克逊新教徒）医生给他做放疗和双盲试验（double blind）——摊上这么个护士，除了认“倒霉”，你上哪儿去找比他更好的？
接受了“敌人”的善意的罗伊立刻打电话给司法部的马丁·赫勒（Martin Heller），威胁他送来足够多的AZT由自己自由支配。剧本里提到马丁的电话号码是202-733-8525，迷你剧中阿尔·帕西诺（Al Pacino）拨的202-244-3116则是华盛顿外圈电影院（Outer Circle 1-2）的电话，不过跟这家影院已于2004年关闭了。
虽然在剧中为时尚早，不过罗伊的“阴虱论”还真适合做他的墓志铭呢：
othing could kill them. And every time I had to itch I'd smile, because I learned to respect them, these unkillable crabs, because... I learned to identify. You know？ Determined lowlife. Like me.
第六场
人物
路易斯·艾伦森（Louis Ironson）：联邦第二巡回上诉法院的文字处理员，昵称路（Lou）。
乔。
舞台提示
当晚。深夜。乔和路易斯在路易斯新搬入的公寓内。公寓位于字母地（Alphabetland），里面一如北极的荒原般，未经粉刷，家具全无，又乱又阴森。
一阵尴尬的沉默。路易斯有点儿不好意思地走入房间。
字母地是曼哈顿东村（East Village）的别称，或叫字母城（Alphabet City），因地价便宜，故为艺术家和穷人聚集之地。从和普莱尔的爱巢自我放逐到犹太先辈们住过的“贫民窟”，这似乎又是路易斯自我惩罚的一种方式。甚至他在乔耳边的挑逗，一副“大义卖身”的神气，明明充满欲望的温度，冷得却能把心冻死，全然不同于他和普莱尔之间的情意绵绵。一二度创作似乎也一致有意对比，曾经的同志爱人，言语虽然荤素不忌，行动却相当纯爱，一个眼神儿，一个微笑，一个小动作，几乎连kiss都没有，却把耳鬓厮磨之感都传达出来了；反观半路杀出的小乔，从厕所初见一场，便是一场沦陷，身体的诱惑，欲望的味道，在乔这是“爱情”，在路易斯却是自暴自弃。
第二幕 使徒书
（给西格丽德）
（1986.2）
本剧中“天使”的角色原先是为美国女演员西格丽德·乌尔施密特（Sigrid Wurschmidt）而写，但她在剧本完成之前便于1990年病故了。
第一场
人物
普莱尔。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
普莱尔和伯利兹刚刚参加了一个朋友的葬礼——那个人是纽约出了名的扮装皇后（drag-and-style queen）。两人站在下东城一个寒酸的殡仪馆外面。伯利兹穿着一身美艳靓丽的服装，普莱尔则打扮怪异：黑色的大长袍，搭配着滚边的大围巾，罩在身上有点儿像头巾。他出场时给人一种不安、恐惧的感觉，隐约带点儿圣经的意象。（从这场之后，普莱尔每次出场都是这身装扮——服装配件可稍做更动，但总是全身黑压压的，褴褛不堪，令人不寒而栗。）
第一幕结束的三周后。
在剧中出演葬礼歌手的是凯文·约瑟夫（Kevin 'Flotilla DeBarge' Joseph），一个现实中的扮装皇后。他唱的是福音音乐纪录片《巴雷特修女》（Say Amen, Somebody，1982）中的歌曲《我是他的孩子》（I'm His Child），不过是只是对口型，原唱是策拉·杰克逊·普赖斯（Zella Jackson Price）。
That ludicrous spectacle in there, just a parody of the funeral of someone who really counted. We don't; faggots; we're just a bad dream the real world is having, and the real world's waking up. And he's dead.
第二场
人物
天使。
普莱尔。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
三周前，天使和普莱尔在普莱尔的卧室里：天花板崩落一大块，普莱尔在床上（他换场时已换上睡衣），天使停在空中。伯利兹在街上看着这一段。
如果说第一部普莱尔和路易斯的梦中相会是如泣如诉，那本场就是“雷牛”满面——艾玛·汤普森（Emma Thompson）把个白富美演得高大上的同时又像个逗B似的（褒义！）……剧中的艾玛阿姨年轻貌美如花，背书时中气十足，恨不能气吞万里如虎，可一旦“先知”不按“剧本”接戏，她完全无法即兴发挥，像只泄了气的皮球，嗖嗖嗖地在空中一通乱撞——因为天使“have no imagination, they can do anything but they can't invent, create, they're sort of fabulous and dull all at once”；人类可以think可以imagine，所以上帝才被人类吸引，弃天堂而去。但是当普莱尔流着泪说出abandoned的心事时，我正想用伯利兹的口气笑他入戏太深，猛地发现自己也在戏中……“This is just you, Prior, afraid of what's coming, afraid of time.”
正所谓日有所思，夜有所梦。在普莱尔的潜意识里，“上帝”就是路易斯，“天堂”就是与他共沐的四年半爱河，当艾滋病的“惩罚”降临，“天堂”崩塌，“上帝”出走，他被丢弃在干枯的河床里，等待死神的召唤。他无时不想重返昔日时光——如果爱人真的可能回来，他是否愿意做出哪怕任何改变？这是这个梦境对普莱尔个人的意义，但显然不止于此。
20世纪80年代，刚开始蓬勃的同性恋人权运动遭到了艾滋病的重创。那时人们往往把艾滋病和同性恋画等号，教会更宣扬艾滋病是上帝对同性恋行为的天谴，里根政府的保守力场也没起到好作用，在“艾滋病”正式定名前甚至用过“同性恋癌症”（gay cancer）这种公然歧视的称谓。此外，还有剧中多次提到的mingling，不同性别、性向、种族、民族、宗教信仰、政治立场的人群混居在一片土地，其中必然有势力的多寡，而所谓的少数族群身上抹不掉的烙印就格外明显——剧中的几个主要角色想必都是作者精心挑选的边缘人群代表，简直可以一一对号入座。在这番不乐观的背景下，所有为创造自己的“天堂”而努力着的人，都随时可能遭遇命运的地震，生活的背弃。追求民主，鼓吹自由，个人至上的美国，究竟是“每个人”的天堂，还是“上帝”早已出走的弃土？如果是后者，受到伤害的人们要如何走出彷徨、恐惧或愤怒，宽恕过去，重拾信仰？
-Turn back. Undo.
-…the world doesn't spin backwards. Listen to the world, to how fast it goes.
- Till HE returns again.
-…the time has come to let him go.
没有“混合”就没有这么多矛盾，没有“混合”也就无法进步。因此尽管问题重重，人类始终没有停止追求的脚步。“约拿”是对普莱尔的轻蔑（先知约拿曾试图抗拒使命而受到惩罚，在鱼腹中度过三日后终向上帝臣服），stop moving更是对人性的亵渎，面对如此狂妄，选择应该是显而易见的。但是对普莱尔个人来说，做听话的“约拿”还是抗争的“雅各”，他需要相信自己的直觉。
除了延续与圣经的互文，本场还有一位隐藏作者，（被世人普遍认为是同性恋或双性恋的）诗人惠特曼。作者在剧本后记With a Little Help from My Friends反思“美国艺术家的典型风格”兼自嘲：
Given the bloody opulence of this country's great and terrible history, given its newness and its grand improbability, its artists are bound to be tempted towards large gestures and big embraces, a proclivity de Tocqueville deplored as a national artistic trait nearly two hundred years ago. Melville, my favorite American writer, strikes inflated, even hysterical, chords on occasion. It's the sound of the Individual ballooning, overreaching. We are all children of "Song of Myself." And maybe in this spacious, under- and depopulated, as yet only lightly inscribed country, the Individual will finally expand to its unstable, insupportably swollen limits, and pop. (But here I risk pretentiousness, and an excess of optimism to boot-another American trait.)
这里的Song of Myself指的就是惠特曼的诗作《自己的歌》，其中的一些诗句“似曾相识”：
I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul...
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
因为本剧作者在“I I I I”的天使“假大空”的台词上显然甘冒被指责虚伪矫饰的危险“虚伪矫饰”了一把（并且在剧中人物的命运安排上又把“过度乐观”发扬光大了一番，此是后话）：
The Body is the Garden of the Soul.
Hiding from Me one place you will find me in another.
I I I I stop down the road, waiting for you.
Maybe I am a prophet. Not just me, all of us who are dying now. Maybe we've caught the virus of prophecy. Be still. Toil no more. Maybe the world has driven God from Heaven, incurred the angels' wrath. I believe I've seen the end of things. And having seen, I'm going blind, as prophets do. It makes a certain sense to me.
I hate heaven. I've got no resistance left. Except to run.
先知以利亚，勇敢地杀掉巴力的先知后，在逃亡路上依靠天使相助，才熬过苦难与上帝相见。不管你逃到哪儿，她都会找到你，“掰直”你——她已经在那儿等你了。Straight or not, your choice.
第三幕 肠鸣
（蒙蔽心灵不如面对令人羞愧的真相）
（1986.2）
副标题引自美国诗人华莱士·史蒂文森（Wallace Stevens）的《混沌的鉴赏家》（Connoisseur of Chaos）。
第一场
人物
汉娜。
哈珀。
乔。
路易斯。
舞台提示
一周后，第一幕结束后一个月。舞台分为两边：乔和路易斯在字母地的床上；汉娜和哈珀在布鲁克林的皮特公寓。床单换过了，更整洁，更舒适。乔醒着，路易斯还在睡。乔看着穿着脏兮兮的睡衣的哈珀。她脱下睡衣，穿着胸罩、内裤和丝袜瑟瑟发抖地站在那里，看着乔。汉娜穿着浴袍入场，手臂上搭着一件外衣，手里拿着一双鞋子。她把鞋放到哈珀跟前。
At first it can be very hard to accept how disappointing life is, Harper, because that's what it is and you have to accept it. With faith and time and hard work you reach a point... where the disappointment doesn't hurt as much, and then it gets actually easy to live with. Quite easy. Which is in its own way a disappointment.
——汉娜的处世哲学，与后面他儿子劝路易斯的一段话如出一辙。
本场有一个哈珀穿越幻觉“捉奸在床”的场景，在迷你剧中被省略了：
YOU love him.
YOU can't save him. You never saved anyone. Joe in love, isn't it pathetic.
You're turning into me.
作为一部彻头彻尾的“美国派”，《天使在美国》的舞台首演却是在英国（1993年），而且是在大名鼎鼎的NT（不愧是腐国，伟大的国际主义精神）。当时，饰演路易斯和乔的分别是杰森·艾萨克斯（Jason Isaacs）和丹尼尔·克雷格（Daniel Craig），你能想象马尔福他爹和007滚过床单吗……
第二场
人物
罗伊。
埃塞尔·罗森堡（Ethel Rosenberg）：与其夫朱利叶斯·罗森堡（Julius Rosenberg）一起因间谍罪于1953年被处死。由扮演汉娜的演员饰。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
当天早上，罗伊在医院的病房内。他腹痛得越来越频繁，也越来越厉害。他正在打电话。前一场的电话已换成一个功能更齐全的电话机。床上散漫了法律文件和档案。床脚有个上了锁的小冰柜。
可能是人之将死的缘故，病得越厉害，罗伊身上越有一种接近顽皮的气质，以致我得不断提醒自己，这可不对……好在AZT这面镜子，照出了魔鬼。“I have friends who need them. Bad.”伯利兹的反应之迅猛令我感动不已，但在罗伊的意识里这简直就是G产“霸权”，岂有此理。于是，他把牙齿刺进你的皮肤，让毒液混入你的血管，然后看着变成跟他一样的狂犬——恶毒，我浑身一激灵，我最喜欢的角色在他的“激发”变成了他的镜像，哪怕只是一瞬。
-Kike.
-NOW you're talking!
-Greedy kike.
-NOW you can have a bottle. But only one.
——Be yourself, Belize.
The worst thing about being sick in America, Ethel, is you are booted out of the parade. Americans have no use for sick. Look at Reagan: He's so healthy he's hardly human, he's a hundred if he's a day, he takes a slug in his chest and two days later he's out west riding ponies in his PJ's. I mean who does that？ That's America. It's just no country for the infirm.
当罗伊意外地向埃塞尔吐露关于“美国精神”照不到的阴影的感喟时，我听出的不是伤怀，而是骄傲，就像病房里那张与里根的合影——埃塞尔，你永远被钉在叛徒的耻辱柱上，而我，曾被阳光普照。
第三场
人物
哈珀。
汉娜。
普莱尔。
摩门教接待中心立体透视模型展示室（Diorama Room）的模特：
摩门教父亲（The Mormon Father），由扮演乔的演员饰。
迦勒（Caleb），后台的声音，由扮演伯利兹的演员担任。
奥林（Orrin），后台的声音，由扮演天使的演员担任。
摩门教母亲（The Mormon Mother），由扮演天使的演员饰。
舞台提示
当日稍晚。摩门教接待中心的立体透视模型展示室。那是一个有个小舞台的剧场，布景是关闭着的。幕布后面有一辆典型的西部马篷车，背景是画在帆布上的：一辆有盖的篷车和一个摩门教家庭，在密苏里至盐湖城的长途跋涉中的一个沙漠里。家庭成员都是穿戴着传统服饰的模特：两个儿子、一个母亲和一个女儿，还有父亲（由扮演乔的演员饰演）。哈珀坐在座位舒适的观众席中，穿着打扮和前一场一样。她周围的地上散着一大堆薯片、M&M's巧克力豆和罐装碳酸饮料。汉娜和普莱尔入场。
哈珀和普莱尔的第二次相遇，是现实中的相遇，但巧妙的是，两个承受着精神重负的被弃者，在现实中的共同幻觉里，观看各自的ex共演的一出“戏中戏”。与哈珀“见怪不怪”不同，普莱尔的惊悚反应和哈珀的阴阳怪气形成对比笑果，甚至他看到路易斯和乔离开后的哭泣，都变得好笑……又伤感。台上“完美”的摩门教家庭是哈珀被指定的人生模板，拥有话语权的只有“父亲”，“母亲”是沉默的附属品。她曾短暂坐在马蓬车上片刻，终究无法胜任。她和摩门教母亲一起离开，不仅预示着个人命运的抉择，也象征着现代摩门教女性对平等和“自我”的追求。
第四场
人物
路易斯。
乔。
舞台提示
当天接近傍晚时刻。乔和路易斯并肩坐在琼斯海滩的沙丘边。天气很冷，海浪声、海鸥声和远处贝尔特公园大道上的车声此起彼伏。浪漫的纽约。乔很冷，路易斯则一如往常地对天气没有感觉。
乔在路易斯身边，像个娇羞的姑娘，但是当矛头对准了他——这可不是丘比特的箭——他整个人仿佛缩小了一圈，像个失宠的天使在乞求上帝的垂怜。上帝冷漠地说，天堂毁灭了。
- I love it when you can get to places and see what it used to be. The whole country was like this once. A paradise.
- Ruined now.
-It's still a great country. Best place on earth. Best place to be.
残缺也是种美，接受现实的不健全，摩门教的儿子继承了母亲的legacy：
YOU believe the world is perfectible and so you find it always unsatisfying. YOU have to reconcile yourself to the worlds unperfectibility by being thoroughly in the world but not of it. That's what being a Mormon is. The rhythm of history is conservative. You have to accept that. And accept as rightfully yours the happiness that comes your way. Responsible for everything bad and evil in the world.
“上天才给了你一个月，你就说你爱我。不、可、能。爱上一个人需要很多年，如果非要加上一个期限，最少需要……四年半。”——路易斯教你“如何拒绝一个你不爱的人”：
-What you did when you walked out on him was hard to do. The world may not understand it or approve but you did what you needed to do. And I consider you very brave.
-Nobody does what I did, Joe. Nobody.
-But maybe many want to. Let him go. For real. Louis. I love you.
-No you don't.
-Yes I do.
-NO YOU DONT. You can't, it's only been a month, it takes years to fall in love, four-and-a-half years minimum. You think you do but that's just the gay virgin thing, that's...
乔脱下skin时，我真的很替他难过。旁观者从一开始就看到的事实，他却执迷到现在还不悟。路易斯不、爱、他，从、来、没、爱、过，也没有隐瞒对他整个意识形态的反感，只是他太信赖和沉迷于舌头探寻的味道，麻醉了自己。我不会说他这套理论是错，但是这番“安利与自我安利”……他不知道自己变得多像罗伊！
I want to live now. And I can be anything I need to be. And I want to be with you. You have a good heart and you think the good thing is to be guilty and kind always but it's not always kind to be gentle and soft, there's a genuine violence softness and weakness visit on people. Sometimes self-interested is the most generous thing you can be.
第五场
人物
路易斯。
乔。
罗伊。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
当晚。路易斯和乔仍然留在前一场的位置。
罗伊的病房。罗伊已经睡着了。伯利兹捧着一杯水和一个碟子入场，把罗伊叫醒。
罗伊的神魂颠倒，伯利兹的字字珠玑，这场充满诱惑的复仇看得我血脉贲张，鸡皮疙瘩掉满地，分分钟担心阿尔·帕西诺（Al Pacino）真的会挂掉（我是说演员……）。夜里吵醒你的肠鸣，说出你心底最怕听到的事实：
-...everyone in Balenciaga gowns with red corsages, and big dance palaces full of music and lights and racial impurity and gender confusion. And all the deities are Creole, mulatto, brown as the mouths of rivers. Race, taste and history finally overcome. And you ain't there.
-And Heaven？
-That was Heaven, Roy.
-The fuck it was. Who are you？
-Your negation.
-Yeah. I know you. Nothing. A stomach grumble that wakes you in the night.
-...I'm just the shadow on your grave.
最后他转过身来，两位“死亡天使”肩并肩的一幕真是神来之笔。罗伊，你输了。
第六场
人物
路易斯。
乔。
罗伊。
伯利兹。
哈珀。
摩门教母亲。
普莱尔。
舞台提示
哈珀和摩门教母亲。夜晚。布鲁克林高地的步道上。前两场的人物都仍然留在舞台上。
本场像一篇启示录，作者借一个“假人”，一个摩门教女性之口，道出了人，尤其是女性突破世俗规范（是为“改变”）生存的不易。哈珀透过幻觉，将潜意识中的决定传达出来，其实也是她不再甘于沉默的“肠鸣”tell the truth。而且饰演摩门教母亲的罗宾·薇格特（Robin Weigert）和演哈珀的玛丽-露易丝·帕克（Mary-Louise Parker）长得还蛮像的（脸盲症发作ing），更突显了自我意识的觉醒。
-God splits the skin with a jagged thumbnail from throat to belly and then plunges a huge filthy hand in, he grabs hold of your bloody tubes and they slip to evade his grasp but he squeezes hard, he insists, he pulls and pulls till all your innards are yanked out and the pain! We can't even talk about that. And then he stuffs them back, dirty, tangled and torn. It's up to you to do the stitching.
-And then get up. And walk around.
-Just mangled guts pretending.
-That's how people change.
The squirming facts exceed the squamous mind, If one may say so.
第四幕 约翰·布朗之躯
（1986.2）
约翰·布朗（John Brown），美国废奴主义领袖。1859年，他在西弗吉尼亚州哈珀斯费里领导了一场废除奴隶制的起义，后遭到镇压，他被逮捕并被处决。哈珀斯费里起义及布朗之死被认为是引发南北战争的导火索之一。《约翰·布朗之躯》（John Brown's Body），原名《约翰·布朗之歌》（John Brown's Song），是一首为纪念他而作的进行曲，在南北战争时广为流传。
第一场
人物
路易斯。
罗伊。
乔。
普莱尔。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
一天后。舞台上分为两半：路易斯坐在公园长椅上，全身发冷；罗伊和乔在罗伊的病房中。罗伊在病床上，和以往一样，挂了一个点滴瓶。他的病情更严重了。乔坐在病床旁边的椅子上。
...if you want to look at the heart of modern conservatism, you look at me. Everyone else has abandoned the struggle, everything nowadays is just sipping tea with Nixon and Mao, that was disgusting...
咳咳，言归“正”传，罗伊你到底是爱乔呢爱乔呢还是爱乔呢？每次他以“父亲”自居，我都感到很困惑：他的手在乔的背上摸索，那场景在我心头挥之不去。即便他对乔真的有视如己出的亲情成分，乔坦白自己离开妻子和一个男人同居后他的狂暴反应，绝不只是父亲对儿子自绝于家族、前途的震怒和心痛，一定也夹杂着类似酸楚的感情——他隐藏、压抑着自己对乔的渴望，想把他培养成“接班人”，或者至少是豢养一个亲信，然而乔先是“为了”妻子拒绝了他的美意并在信仰上与他决裂，现在竟然又把自己的才能浪费在“别的”男人身上。对罗伊来说，这是双重背叛——早知如此，我只会让你成为被我带到白宫，里根还冲你微笑，跟你握手的“那种”男人。
但我并非不相信，罗伊自说自话“弥补”乔的“父亲临终前的祝福”虽然霸道，却是真心。他在阻止乔打断这片刻宁静时，有意无意地自比以撒，暗合了乔心中的雅各情结。雅各和哥哥以扫分别受到母亲利百加和父亲以撒的偏爱，以撒想在未死之时给以扫祝福，却被雅各乔装蒙骗，唯声音败露，但以撒老眼昏花，终于上当。罗伊说：“That's what they're supposed to bless. Life.”这里，作者借用了耶鲁大学教授，文学评论家哈罗德·布鲁姆（Harold Bloom）对希伯来文的blessing的翻译——more life（亦即本剧第二部的主题）。这壮美的宣言第一次发声竟出自将下地狱的恶魔之口，寄予着作者的苦心和好意，也是他对未来的坚定期许。
Every goddam thing I ever wanted they have taken from me. Mocked and reviled, all my life.
obody...with me now. But the dead.
罗伊说，我一生从不为上头条。灭不掉的阴虱，you have to respect him。
另半边舞台，路易斯开着水龙头冲洗看不见的内伤，不把普莱尔逼疯誓不罢休。没有峰回路转，相见不如怀念。
YOU cry, but you endanger nothing in yourself. It's like the idea of crying when you do it. Or the idea of love.
Come back to me when they're visible. I want to see black and blue, Louis, I want to see blood. Because I can't believe you even have blood in your veins till you show it to me. So don't come near me again, unless you've got something to show.
第二场
人物
乔。
普莱尔。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
第二天。乔在布鲁克林法院大楼的办公室中。他无精打采地坐在书桌前，用手捂着脸。普莱尔和伯利兹从走廊进入。
本场太欢脱了，杰弗里·赖特（Jeffrey Wright）的表情和光头都闪闪发亮，伯利兹比1993年“同款”更婀娜了……
第三场
人物
路易斯。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
次日。2月末一个阴雨寒冷的日子。在中央公园的毕士大喷泉（Bethesda Fountain）旁。随着本场的进展，暴风雨逼近，天色渐暗。路易斯坐在喷泉边缘，伯利兹入场后坐在他旁边。
毕士大喷泉中央的“水之天使”（Angel of the Waters）雕像由艾玛·斯特宾斯（Emma Stebbins）设计，并于1873年建成，是纽约市第一个由女性完成的公共艺术品。剧中路易斯说该作品是为纪念南北战争中阵亡的海军将士，与史实不符。
本场路易斯在雨中的唾沫横飞让我很有扇他一巴掌的冲动。伯利兹真是冤枉乔了，这反倒让路易斯抓住了救命稻草，为自己抛弃乔找到了最好的借口。他把一切归咎于“罗伊的buttboy”，忽然之间，乔的宗教、党派、观念等等令他不爽的地方都有了出处，他“总算”忘了自己只是想找个人暖床来着，俨然一副被恋人欺骗的受害者姿态——他终于把自己“变成”了普莱尔。
听着伯利兹的毒舌，我忽然get了：乔就是路易斯每每高谈阔论的“美国”的化身，big ideas，stories俯拾即是，然而路易斯没有意识到，在他眠床上的其实是罗伊，terminal，crazy，mean的垂死之人。
Your problem is that you are so full of piping hot crap that the mention of your name draws flies.
Louis and his Big Ideas. Big Ideas are all you love. "America" is what Louis loves.
You come with me to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean.
第四场
人物
汉娜。
乔。
普莱尔。
舞台提示
当天。汉娜在接待中心。乔入场。他们彼此注视了好一阵。
本场，普莱尔跟踪乔来到接待中心，闯入了汉娜的“地盘”。这次相识，对二人来说都非常重要，汉娜是普莱尔生病以后依靠的陌生人的善意，儿子的（前）男友的前男友则成为汉娜入世的引路人。迷你剧中，当汉娜搀着普莱尔步入雨中艰难摸索时，橱窗里的摩门教母亲在后面注视着他们，这一幕意味深长——转场便是哈珀与乔的分手“前戏”，摩门教女性们“改变”的时刻就要到了。
第五场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
舞台提示
当天傍晚。哈珀伫立在布鲁克林高地步道的栏杆前，凝视着河水和曼哈顿的天际线。寒风刺骨，并且开始下起雨来。她穿着一件连衣裙，赤着脚，在这样的天气里显得很单薄。乔撑着一把伞入场。他们彼此注视了一会儿，然后哈珀又转身面对着天际线。
失意的乔又想进入自欺欺人的死循环，好在哈珀恕不奉陪了。
-Did you miss me？
-...I've come back.
-Fire's the answer. The Great and Terrible Day. At last.
“上主大而可畏的日子”（The Great and Terrible Day）即“耶和华的日子”（The Day of the Lord），是耶和华惩罚恶人的日子（比如千禧年），会用火，会见血。有12位先知直接或间接地预言过这个日子。
第六场
人物
艾米莉（Emily）：护士，由扮演天使的演员饰。
普莱尔。
汉娜。
舞台提示
晚上。普莱尔、艾米莉和汉娜在圣文森特医院的急诊室。艾米莉在检查普莱尔的呼吸，汉娜坐在一旁的椅子上。
汉娜所说的见过天使的约瑟夫·史密斯（Joseph Smith）是摩门教的创始人，那个天使就是哈珀曾纠正普莱尔的“天使摩罗乃”（Angel Moroni）。史密斯称摩罗乃指引给他一本“金书”（ golden plates）和一副能预知未来的水晶球镜片的眼镜，后来他就根据那本书里的古埃及文“翻译”出了《摩门经》（The Book of Mormon）。很明显，普莱尔的“经历”是史密斯的翻版，但他对汉娜的话的排斥，当然并非针对摩门教，而是出自对大多数宗教的不信任，以及他想知道是否有先知拒绝过vision和拒绝的后果（被喂鲸的显然就是约拿），都预示着他不会按“剧本”演下去，“金书”早晚是要被改写的。
An angel is just a belief, with wings and arms that can carry you. It's naught to be afraid of. If it lets you down, reject it. Seek for something new.
汉娜听到普莱尔说“YOU comfort me, you do, you stiffen my spine”时，眼中闪过一道略带惊讶的温柔的光，不知道是不是想到了自己的儿子——他无助时是否有人comfort他，那个人为什么不是自己？那晚他鼓起勇气打电话坦白时，自己又说了些什么？
第七场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
舞台提示
当晚，哈珀和乔在家中的床上。一阵沉默，然后：
-What do you see？
-Nothing, I...
-Thank you.
-For what？
-Finally. The truth.
乔，你自由了。
第八场
人物
路易斯。
乔。
舞台提示
当夜稍晚。路易斯在他的公寓里，手中拿着一大叠复印的文件，读着。乔入场。两人看着对方。
获得“自由”的乔满怀希望地回去找路易斯，却遭到当头一棒：“Have you no decency, sir？ At long last？ Have you no sense of decency？”路易斯以“陆军-麦卡锡听证会”上，军方律师约瑟夫·韦尔奇（Joseph N. Welch）对约瑟夫·雷蒙德·麦卡锡（Joseph Raymond McCarthy）的质询开始了他的进攻。说实话，他为了理直气壮地甩掉乔居然去翻阅法庭判决，做到这个份上也真是醉了——你还记得曾经跟普莱尔说过it's not the verdict that counts，it's the act of judgment吗？路易斯一通扫射，根本没给乔解释的机会，因为他就不需要听。他成功地激怒了乔，很好，这下他终于受到了“惩罚”，而不是自己跌破额头——现在，他可以去向普莱尔证明了。
第九场
人物
罗伊。
埃塞尔。
伯利兹。
舞台提示
当夜稍晚。罗伊在病床上，情况很糟糕，身上接着一大堆监控器和点滴。埃塞尔出现。
John Brown's Body lies a-moulderin' in the grave,
John Brown's Body lies a-moulderin' in the grave,
John Brown's Body lies a-moulderin' in the grave,
His truth is marching on...
罗伊哼着《约翰·布朗之躯》，给了埃塞尔一个big smile。
他自比带领以色列人逃出埃及的摩西及其继承者约书亚，以神力分开死海（摩西的神迹）、约旦河（约书亚的神迹），抵达应许之地迦南继续做一名律师，而他的敌人们将在对岸目瞪口呆。啧啧，死到临头还痴心妄想，代表Christian Bale消灭你！（据说Exodus: Gods and Kings口碑不佳……）
但是当埃塞尔告诉他not a lawyer anymore，他身上最后一丝精气神瞬间也被抽干了。埃塞尔将仇恨带上了天堂，化作一颗尖尖的小星星，每年只在6月9日（她的忌日）那晚燃烧一次，发出惨绿色的光芒。这恨是如此入骨，以致33年后她还会回来：“...you could kill me, but you couldn't ever defeat me. You never won. And when you die all anyone will say is: Better he had never lived at all.”字字咬牙切齿，听得我这叫解气。但是一个尝过死亡滋味的母亲的灵魂，面对恶魔孩子般的恳求，终究会心软。
A young lad stands, and he thinks
Thinks and thinks the whole night through
Whom to take and not to shame
Whom to take and not to shame
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, strum balalaika
Tumbalalaika, may we be happy
Girl, girl, I want to ask of you
What can grow, grow without rain？
What can burn and never end？
What can yearn, cry without tears？
Foolish lad, why do you have to ask？
A stone can grow, grow without rain
Love can burn and never end
A heart can yearn, cry without tears
What is higher than a house？
What is swifter than a mouse？
What is deeper than a well？
What is bitter, more bitter than gall？
A chimney is higher than a house
A cat is swifter than a mouse
The Torah is deeper than a well
Death is bitter, more bitter than gall
这首俄罗斯犹太民谣叫Tumbalalaika，Tum是意第绪语的“噪音”，balalaika是巴拉莱卡琴，也叫三角琴。在“母亲”轻柔的歌声中，罗伊闭上了眼睛——此时，不仅是埃塞尔，我也被这只老狐狸给骗了！我真的相信那声声sorry是罪恶的忏悔，原谅的乞求，是作者宽宏的cliche……谁知埃塞尔的笑声未落，罗伊就诈、尸、了！谢天谢地，作者没有走斯皮尔伯格路线，不打算赚取观众的“鳄鱼泪”。得意忘形于another win之际，时间才是最后的赢家，永远的胜者。死亡，对任何“more life”来说，都是悲剧的收场。我们敬畏生命，尊重死亡。罗伊·科恩，死得其所。
罗伊·科恩（1927.2.20-1986.8.2），律师和爱国者。
第五幕 天堂，我在天堂里
（1986.2）
第一场
人物
普莱尔。
汉娜。
天使。
舞台提示
当晚深夜，普莱尔在他的病房里。汉娜坐在椅子上睡着了。普莱尔站在床上，笼罩在一道诡异的光束中。汉娜被惊动，呻吟了一下，然后突然醒来，看着他。
黑暗中传来清亮的喇叭声，伴着远方的鼓号声。静下来。雷声。然后，四周的墙上出现了一个个在火焰中扭动的希伯来字母。天使穿着黑衣，突然出现，状极可怖。汉娜惊叫一声，用双手把脸遮住。
Grab her, say "I will not let thee go except thou bless me!" Then wrestle with her till she gives in.
本场荒诞感十足。纠缠了普莱尔这么久的天使，竟然轻易“大腿肌肉拉伤”败下阵来，而绘出这幅“雅各与天使摔跤”的竟然是“摩门教母亲”。不由得想起第一部里马丁·赫勒（Martin Heller）对乔说的话，原来也是预言：“It's the fear of what comes after the doing that makes the doing hard to do. But you can almost always live with the consequences.”
（舞台提示：乐声大作，暗蓝色的房中突然出现一道白光。这道极为耀眼的白色光束中出现一道更亮、更白的梯子，无尽地向上延伸，而在梯子的每一条横杆上都燃烧着希伯来文字母。）
普莱尔一“走”，雌雄同体的天使就把“舌头”（艾玛阿姨告诉我们，you have to use tongues even if you're not a lesbian）伸向了纯良的汉娜，带她在纽约上空体验了一把前所未有的G点。两个保守的女人，负负得正；期待汉娜从酣睡中醒来。
第二场
人物
普莱尔。
哈珀。
天使。
舞台提示
普莱尔来到了天堂。他穿着先知的长袍，看起来像电影《十诫》（The Ten Commandments，1956）中查尔顿·赫斯顿（Charlton Heston）饰演的摩西，手中带着一本《反迁移使徒书》（Anti-Migratory Epistle）。天堂看起来很像1906年大地震后的旧金山，有种荒凉、残破的感觉，四处都是断壁残垣。哈珀正坐在一个街角的木箱上，逗弄着一只猫。
普莱尔在天堂遇到哈珀的段落，在迷你剧中被省略了。哈珀并不自知身处天堂，想来又是嗑药high了……而那只猫就是普莱尔和路易斯走失的小猫示巴（Sheba），九条命用完也没能“通关”。普莱尔为“旧金山”的devastation所惑，邀请哈珀同留，却被拒绝：“I feel like shit but I've never felt more alive.”
（舞台提示：景色逐渐消失，浮现出另一个室内景。那是上议堂的前厅，看起来像极了旧金山的市政厅，但是灰泥上裂缝更多。天使出现。）
第三场
人物
罗伊。
埃塞尔。
伯利兹。
路易斯。
舞台提示
清晨2点，罗伊的病房里。埃塞尔坐在椅子上，伯利兹入场，然后向舞台后小声地叫了一下。
路易斯穿着外套，戴着太阳镜入场。
埃塞尔在冥冥之中领着路易斯背诵的阿拉米语祈祷文（Kaddish）本是上帝的赞美诗，但经常被用做悼词（The Mourner's Kaddish）。
He was a terrible person. He died a hard death. So maybe.... A queen can forgive her vanquished foe. It isn't easy, it doesn't count if it's easy, it's the hardest thing. Forgiveness. Which is maybe where love and justice finally meet. Peace, at least.
公平，是伯利兹给罗伊最大的宽恕：因为同志，他没有把罗伊排除在“团结”之外；因为AZT，他甚至愿意感谢罗伊。为一个如此糟糕的人祈祷，并不意味着“宽恕”的结果，更重要的是“去宽恕”的尝试。面对历史的罪恶，我们常说宽恕而不遗忘，我以为，就是以爱的力量匡扶正义，不为给对方添堵，只为解自己心宽。
我不了解历史上真实的罗伊·科恩的身后名，不过在1988年华盛顿“艾滋病纪念拼布”（NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt）上的“懦夫 恶霸 受害者”（coward bully victim），fair enough——前事不忘后事之师，YOU sonofabitch。
第四场
人物
乔。
罗伊。
哈珀。
舞台提示
清晨2点，乔走入空荡荡的布鲁克林公寓，带着路易斯那里拿回来的皮箱。
罗伊穿着华丽的黑色天鹅绒及地长袍，从卧室走出来。乔害怕地看着他，转身，又回头看，罗伊还在那里。
迷你剧没有呈现罗伊的鬼魂出现在乔的幻觉中的片段，所以无缘看到罗伊给乔的轻吻……“You'll find, my friend, that what you love will take you places you never dreamed you'd go.”细想一下，确实如此。剧中的每个幻境，都是角色在“爱”里沉浮产生的眩晕，仅限于想到自己的人，是不大配得上这些非凡的体验的。
第五场
人物
各洲天使，拥有超凡神力的官僚，美国天使的同辈：
欧洲天使（The Angel Europa），由扮演乔的演员饰。
非洲天使（The Angel Africanii），由扮演哈珀的演员饰。
大洋洲天使（The Angel Oceania），由扮演伯利兹的演员饰。
亚洲天使（The Angel Asiatica），由扮演汉娜的演员饰。
澳洲天使（The Angel Australia），由扮演路易斯的演员饰。
南极洲天使（The Angel Antarctica），由扮演罗伊的演员饰。
预先录制好的声音。
舞台提示
天堂：在各洲天使的会议室中。场景一面变换，一个声音（和第一幕第一场以及第三幕第三场同一个声音）一面宣布：各洲天使会议厅；天堂；一个很像旧金山的地方。七位无限崇高的天使中有六位到场与会，愿他们的圣名流芳万世，哈利路亚。常设紧急会议现在展开。
各洲天使围坐在会议桌旁，桌上铺了一张绣着古代世界地图的挂毡，上面摆满了损坏了的古代天文、占星、数学、航海用测量仪器，一堆又一堆的书籍、文件和一叠叠发黄的报纸，还有墨水瓶、写字板、尖笔和羽毛笔。除了烛光之外，整个大厅只有上方一个大灯泡亮着，显得有些昏暗。幕后传来发电机有节奏的运转声，灯泡亮度也随着声音的高低起伏而明暗不定。桌子中央有一个笨重的收音机，是20世纪40年代的机型，已经年久失修，但还开着，指示灯还亮着，天使们围绕它的四周，倾听着它微弱、充满杂讯的声音。
（天使们用来监督人类的）收音机里播放着BBC对（发生于天堂时间62天后的4月26日的）切尔诺贝利核事故的现场报道，由于年久失修，广播时断时续。他们对人间灾难的预言无动于衷，甚至幸灾乐祸。他们没有想象力和创造力去拯救，就像没有能力修好那该死的收音机，所有的“思考”和“行动”，都要依赖上帝留下的“程序手册”。
“先知”来到，退还使徒书，宣布保守和停滞的无期徒刑——
人类的决定：
We can't just stop. We're not rocks-progress, migration, motion is...desire. Even if all we desire is stillness, it's still desire for. Even if we go faster than we should. We can't wait. And wait for what？ God...
He isn't coming back. And even if He did.... If He ever did come back, if He ever dared to show His face, or his Glyph or whatever in the Garden again...if after all this destruction, if after all the terrible days of this terrible century He returned to see...how much suffering His abandonment had created, if all He has to offer is death, you should sue the bastard. That's my only contribution to all this Theology. Sue the bastard for walking out. How dare He.
普莱尔的决定：
I've lived through such terrible times, and there are people who live through much much worse, but.... You see them living anyway. When they're more spirit than body, more sores than skin, when they're burned and in agony, when flies lay eggs in the corners of the eyes of their children, they live. Death usually has to take life away. I don't know if that's just the animal. I don't know if it's not braver to die. But I recognize the habit. The addiction to being alive. We live past hope. If I can find hope anywhere, that's it, that's the best I can do. It's so much not enough, so inadequate but.... Bless me anyway. I want more life.
And if He returns, take Him to Court. He walked out on us. He ought to pay.
第六场
人物
伊西多·切梅尔维茨拉比（Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz）：犹太正教教士，东欧口音，由扮演汉娜·波特·皮特（Hannah Porter Pitt）的演员饰。
莎拉·艾伦森（Sarah Ironson）：路易斯已故的祖母，即第一部第一幕中被切梅尔维茨拉比埋入土中的那位。由扮演路易斯的演员饰。
舞台提示
天堂的街上。切梅尔维茨拉比和莎拉两人坐在木箱上，中间放着另一个木箱，两人在玩牌。普莱尔入场。（本场非必选。）
本场仅存于剧本里。在天堂，一切都像昨天的报纸，早已注定，没有未知，了无生趣。唯有玩牌，因为即使在这里，手气依然是无法预测的。迷你剧借助“毕士大池”的象征，完成了普莱尔向more life的回归。
第七场
人物
普莱尔。
伯利兹。
艾米莉。
汉娜。
路易斯。
舞台提示
隔天早上。普莱尔从天堂下来，溜回床上。伯利兹睡在椅子上。
恶梦醒来是早晨，普莱尔的反应和电影《绿野仙踪》（The Wizard of Oz，1939）里桃乐茜从奥兹国“回来”后一模一样：
I've had a remarkable dream. And you were there, and you...
And you.
And some of it was terrible, and some of it was wonderful, but all the same I kept saying I want to go home. And they sent me home.
他对汉娜说的那句“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”，则是《欲望号街车》（A Streetcar Named Desire）里白兰奇最后的台词。
第八场
人物
哈珀。
乔。
路易斯。
普莱尔。
舞台提示
当天早上。舞台分为两边：路易斯和普莱尔和前一场一样，在普莱尔的病房里；哈珀和乔和第五幕第四场一样，在布鲁克林。
哈珀走得潇洒，留给乔一个巴掌的温度：“Sometimes, maybe lost is best. Get lost. Joe. Go exploring.”
（舞台提示：她从沙发里挖出一瓶“安定”，拿出两粒药片，走向乔，抓起他的手，把药片放在他的掌心。）
但是乔要怎么办？为了“真爱”狠心出柜，伤害了妻子和母亲，放弃了职业前途，最后落得众叛亲离，孤家寡人。剧本里，作者独独没有给乔指一条明路，究竟是有多不待见这类凡如你我的良心未泯、举棋不定？其他活下来的人物，或多或少都move on了，每个人的一小步，都是千禧年的一线曙光。就算死掉的罗伊，也完成了他的历史使命，抱着完整的残缺走向地狱，而他的气息在埃塞尔、伯利兹、乔，甚至路易斯心底激起的涟漪，也会随着波动永远传递下去。这不公平。也许，作者是想借此展示现实将会如何残酷地捉弄“大多数”——所有对新鲜、不同的哪怕一丝保守、恐惧，日积月累都可能织出身上的茧，当你费尽力气破开它时，当初的新鲜、不同也已老旧，更多的不适又将袭来，永远迟缓，永远慢一步。想要回头，已经没人在等你；想要继续，也没有人同行。乔的悲剧，我以为在剧中是最深的，像作者留下的一个缺口，愿每个人都可以填补。
另一边厢，挂着visible scars的路易斯终于不再辩解地做出忏悔，普莱尔撤消了对遗弃他的“上帝”的控告，选择了宽恕。“我爱你但我们不能在一起”，这危险的狗血戏码竟能这般干净利落，不入俗套：
-I want to come back to you. You could...respond, you could say something, throw me out or say it's fine, or it's not fine but sure what the hell or... I really failed you. But...this is hard. Failing in love isn't the same as not loving. It doesn't let you off the hook, it doesn't mean...you're free to not love.
-I love you Louis.
-Good. I love you.
-I really do. But you can't come back. Not ever. I'm sorry. But you can't.
爱，治愈了一切“癌”。洗心革面的路易斯健全了道德和人格，大难不死的普莱尔获得了more life的勇气。同志爱人，从此爱人同志（comrades）。
第九场
人物
罗伊。
舞台提示
罗伊，不知是在天堂、地狱，还是炼狱，站在一个闷烧着的坑里，露出腰部以上的半截身体，面对着一个巨大的燃烧着的希伯来文第一个字母Aleph，将他和整个剧院笼罩在一片火山熔岩般闪烁的红光下，底下发出低沉的轰隆声，有如一千台炼钢炉同时启动时的声音从地底蹿出一般。（本场非必选。）
Typical Roy in Hell，仅存于剧本里：
Yes I will represent you, King of the Universe, yes I will sing and eviscerate, I will bully and seduce, I will win for you and make the plaintiffs, those traitors, wish they had never heard the name of... Is it a done deal, are we on？ Good, then I gotta start by telling you you ain't got a case here, you're guilty as hell, no question, you have nothing to plead but not to worry, darling, I will make something up.
第十场
人物
路易斯。
普莱尔。
乔。
哈珀。
舞台提示
当夜。路易斯和普莱尔仍然留在场上。乔独自坐在布鲁克林。哈珀出现了，她坐在一架大型喷气式客机的靠窗位子上，飞机飞着。
广场恐惧症患者多年后再次坐上飞机，横越美国，追逐月亮。哈珀离开了“同志的国度”纽约，前往“最接近天堂”的旧金山，去到一片更广阔、宽容的天地寻找属于自己的位置。在只有她看得到的高空，一张由一个个死后的灵魂手拉手、脚勾脚团结而成的大网，织补着保护我们的臭氧层。“Nothing's lost forever. In this world, there is a kind of painful progress. Longing for what we've left behind, and dreaming ahead.”——我忽然一身鸡皮疙瘩地想起本剧的副标题：一首关于国家主题的同志幻想曲（A Gay Fantasia on National Themes）。这是否意味着，留下来的人们，也就是尾声将要出现的四个角色，就是全剧都在建构（幻想）的“这个国度”的公民呢？如果这是一个“同志幻想国”，那是否汉娜心底也有一个被压抑的秘密呢？之前我只是认为她的婚姻相当不幸，因为每当乔提起父亲，她的反应得甚为生硬，以及她对普莱尔所说的对（男）同性恋和男性的印象，我也仅归因于宗教的长期约束和养成。但是现在看来，她内心的拉拉倾向，也并非全无可能。保守的生活环境大约让她根本没有意识到过，但乔的“变数”触发了这个隐秘的机制，与天使的G点，与普莱尔的亲近也许都是一种暗示。所以，她才能留下来……
做“这个国度”的公民，不在于性向，出柜与否，重要的是自有一套适应环境的法则，可以自在呼吸——前所未有的自在。
尾声 毕士大
（1990.2）
人物
路易斯。
伯利兹。
汉娜。
普莱尔。
舞台提示
普莱尔、路易斯、伯利兹和汉娜坐在中央公园的毕士大喷泉边。天气晴朗但寒冷。普莱尔裹得密密麻麻，戴着厚厚的眼镜，拄着拐杖。汉娜明显地和以往不同了——她看起来像个典型的纽约客，读着《纽约时报》。路易斯和伯利兹在争论着。毕士大的天使像俯视着他们。
千禧年还没有到来，毕士大池水冰封，神迹没有出现。“国家主题”中的四个边缘人，一个犹太人、一个女摩门教徒、一个WASP艾滋病患者、一个黑人，律动着脉搏，分享着善意，谱写出“同志幻想曲”的最强音。作为剧中曾经最被动的角色之一，失去身体免疫力的普莱尔依靠顽强的精神抗体，最终进化成为命运的真正主角。
This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all, and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come.
You are fabulous creatures, each and every one.
And I bless you: More Life.
The Great Work Begins.
The fountain's not flowing now, they turn it off in the winter, ice in the pipes. But in the summer it's a sight to see. I want to be around to see it. I plan to be. I hope to be.
这是他们的“重建”，但不仅仅是他们的。祝福所有进步的灵魂，收获更好的自己。
剧终
《天使在美国》观后感(十)：天使在美国
台词真的太精彩了，几乎每段对手戏的台词都潜藏很多政治宗教哲学等元素的道理。
幻想与现实之间的交替，人在重压之下所幻想的事物也许就是人生中所无法放下的东西。普莱特在爱人离开之后想到的是早点死去，自己无法独自承受病痛的折磨，看到天使还有先人有一种希望自己能解脱的意味，而罗伊看中的则是自己的律师身份，这也是他拥有现今话语权的来源，他临死时看到自己以前在法庭上的迫害对象也是一种对自己以前犯下的错误的悔恨，虽然自己嘴上并不承认，但是却始终无法从内心上摆脱这个阴影，这是他律师生涯的污点。
路易虽然一肚子的愤青理论，但自己遇到考验却也无法做到自己口中的正确，说着从不和不爱的人做爱，却在离开男友时为了惩罚自己或是只是单纯发泄而招人约炮，把自己的过错怪罪到其他人身上，攻击他人的弱点来变相安慰自己 。但是结尾那段洗白真是完全把我感动到了，这样一个顽固的人却终于肯承认自己的错误，愿意回到男友身边，如果我是他男友肯定无法拒绝。
乔可以说是最惨的一个了，到了结尾竟然没有他的镜头，反而是大家都离他而去，其实他只是一只在考虑其他的人的想法而无法果断的做出许多决定，他其实并没有做错什么，可能他这次真的应为喜欢上了路易而想要为自己争取一下。
黑人同志作为全篇的联系人，贯穿在所有人物之中，同时也依靠着自己特有的弱势群体的位置引发出许多发人深省的对话。
也许天使是自由的象征，而剧中的角色都属于美国中不受待见的群体，天使在美国也就意味着，自由与平等的社会正在美国建立，美国将会是能包容这些各个群体，一个拥有天使的国家。