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Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Gamm Theatre offers a transcendent telling of Tony Kushner's ‘Angels in America: Part One'
The story revolves around his diagnosis and illness, but Prior's life serves as a launching pad for weighty discussions about liberalism, conservatism, and race relations during the Reagan years. And there is no shortage of philosophizing about how the past shapes the present. The play also finds parallels between Judaism and homosexuality, reminding us about how swiftly a fearful and divided nation marginalizes, stigmatizes, and ostracizes 'others.' Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up It is no wonder that the play is long — seven-and-a-half-hours in total — and told over two separate performances: 'Part One: Millennium Approaches,' which runs through June 15, and 'Part Two: Perestroika,' which runs from Sept. 25 to Oct. 12. Both are directed by Brian McEleney, who knows his way around this work having played the pivotal role of Prior Walter in Trinity Repertory Company's acclaimed 1996 production. Advertisement What is brilliant about this audaciously ambitious work is that it is at once imaginative and unpretentious, uncompromising and affable, and hard to watch but impossible to look away. What is particularly maddening is Kushner's constant intertwining of diatribes with dialogue, reality with drug- and disease-induced fantasy, and horror with humor. Advertisement Also, most actors play multiple roles to demonstrate the elasticity of gender, social and cultural identities, as well as the implicitly theatrical nature of this work. And as our nation once again gravitates toward ignorance and intolerance regarding LGBTQ+ communities, this play is — as Hilton Als duly noted — necessary. Director McEleney and his designers fully embrace the necessary nature of this work by having it drive the show's production values. The permanent set that dominates the Gamm Theatre stage, courtesy of Patrick Lynch, resembles the kind of filthy public restrooms in New York City's Central Park that hosted clandestine homosexual encounters in the mid-1980s, complete with sterile gray tiling tagged with profane graffiti and hate speech. The introduction of simple furnishings — in line with the playwright's call for a 'pared-down style of presentation' to make the show an 'actor-driven event' — serve to establish the various locations in which this three-act play takes place, but with the reminder of the illicitly and risk of homosexuality always in the background. These scene-changing chairs and tables are brought onto and off of the stage while the previous scene is still taking place, which accentuates the intersecting lives of characters who have been touched by AIDS or by those infected by it. These include Prior's politically committed but not personally disconnected lover, Louis Ironson (Ben Steinfeld, whose powerful depiction of this guilt-ridden man is masterful); Roy Cohn, a toxic, high-profile prosecuting attorney and powerbroker who refuses to admit he is gay (a mesmerizing Tony Estrella); a closeted Mormon legal clerk (a superb Jeff Church, whose stiff posture and tailored suit (courtesy of designer David T. Howard) attempts but cannot contain this character's abundance of internal conflict); his emotionally unstable and Valium-addicted wife (Gabrielle McCauley, whose ability to phase in and out of her character's drug-induced revelations and humorous delusions (courtesy of lighting designer Jeff Adelberg) is dazzling); and an ex-drag queen named Belize (an always intriguing Rodney Witherspoon II). Advertisement Some of the best and most truthful acting moments occur on the periphery of these scenes, as characters linger before leaving the stage. There we find McCauley's Harper paralyzed and in tears, Church's Joe lost in his personal pain, and Regen's Prior and Steinfeld's Louis reflecting on their respective futures. Even after the play's opening scene, in which a eulogy of an old woman is presented, the incredible Phyllis Kay as Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz stands frozen for a moment, overwhelmed by her own words. Just when you think that the acting on the Gamm Theatre stage could not get any better than that recently on display in ' A sign by the theater box office offers a warning about the play's profanity, brief nudity, and disturbing subject matter. Missing is mention of how 'Angels in America' is a cautionary tale that has come to fruition, which may very well be why this play's production is a late add to the already completed 2024/2025 season. Advertisement ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART ONE Play by Tony Kushner. Directed by Brian McEleney. At the Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, R.I. Runs through June 15. Tickets $70-$80, plus fees. 401-723-4266, Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him .
Saba Yemen
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
America... Failure of Big Stick Policy: Report
Sana'a - Saba: From the perspective of events and facts, it appears that America is on the path to demise. This is confirmed by the decisions of US President Donald Trump's second term, which antagonizes the entire world, including Washington's close friends and allies in Europe. This insane president is no longer able to differentiate between friends, allies, and enemies, and is hurling his accusations in all directions. This is a dangerous indicator that the world is entering a new era of international relations, similar to what Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika brought about, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Trump is now taking the same steps Gorbachev followed, which will lead to the collapse and disintegration of America. This has become a demand of all countries of the world harmed by US policies. What is certain is that people do not forget the injustice they suffered, but rather postpone it until a time when the response is appropriate. The Arab region has been the region in the world most bruised by American injustice for decades. The Yemeni armed forces have begun responding to the aggression in the Red and Arabian Seas, with the entire world following its developments as they unfold. This confrontation has imposed a new course of action between the Yemeni naval forces and the navies of the United States and Britain. The initial results of the confrontation confirm that the Yemeni navy has prevailed, overcoming what could be called the "Mistress of the Seas" complex (Britain) and the naval might of the United States. This has led the world to watch in astonishment as the Yemeni navy has recorded stunning victories. Faced with these defeats, the American aggression has resorted to indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets. This is the logic of the weak and defeated on the battlefield. Evidence of this is the targeting of a tribal gathering in one area, which Trump described as a military gathering planning a naval attack. The bombing targeted a civilian gathering during a social event, perhaps a tribal reconciliation, a wedding, or an Eid al-Fitr celebration. Yemenis do not gather in large groups during wars. This incident demonstrates two things: first, the military's inability to confront the enemy, and second, a disastrous intelligence failure in identifying and selecting targets. American crimes against civilian targets have a long history, perhaps the most significant of which was the bombing of wedding and funeral halls in Sana'a, which was condemned worldwide. The world has fallen into the trap of American and Western media deception. For decades, we have heard, seen, and read about America's astonishing military capabilities. This statement is certainly true, but confronting it is not impossible if there is a sincere desire to do so. The logical, reasonable, and acceptable matter for the people of the world is to dismantle the United States of America, which has inflicted the scourge of war and destruction on the world. Now is the time for America to drink from the same cup it has inflicted on the world. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (Reports)
Al Jazeera
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
The wounds of the 1944 deportation still fester in Chechnya and beyond
A day before Ukraine marks three years since the full-scale Russian invasion, the Chechen and Ingush peoples are commemorating the 81st anniversary of their forced expulsion by the communist regime in Moscow. The impact of this genocidal operation, which began on February 23, 1944 on the orders of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, continues to reverberate today throughout the North Caucasus and beyond. The decades-long efforts to suppress the memory of this violent expulsion and the refusal of Moscow to acknowledge and apologise for it have ensured that it remains an open wound for the Chechen and Ingush people. I distinctly recall being six or seven years old when I first heard the term 'deportation'. It slipped from the lips of one of my parents, only to be swiftly followed by silence. Soviet authorities in the early 1980s still had a strong grip over the country and resolutely suppressed discussions of this topic, particularly within the Chechen and Ingush autonomous republics. Adults lived in an atmosphere of fear and mistrust and were very cautious about discussing the topic even in front of their children. A child repeating the word in front of strangers or at school could attract the attention of the Soviet secret police, the KGB, and lead to some kind of punishment. The era of Perestroika, marked by increased openness and the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union, lifted the veil of silence surrounding taboo subjects, including the various crimes the Soviets had committed. The younger generations of Chechen and Ingush peoples began to learn about what had happened to their parents and grandparents. They finally heard the stories of how, during World War II, elite divisions of the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB, and the military were deployed to deport the entire Chechen and Ingush populations from their ancestral lands. Even more chilling was the revelation that Soviet soldiers did not hesitate to kill the elderly and sick to meet the deportation schedule. Their bodies were callously disposed of in mountain lakes. Entire communities were burned down. In the case of the village of Khaibakh, the NKVD burned alive 700 of its residents, including pregnant women, children and the elderly, who could not be transported to train stations in time for deportation due to heavy snowfall. The gruelling three-week journey in rail cars meant for livestock, where people faced starvation and unsanitary conditions, further contributed to the staggeringly high death toll. Dropped off in the Central Asian steppe with no food or shelter, the deportees had little chance of survival. Due to the deportation, the Chechens and Ingush lost almost 25 percent of their populations, according to the official estimate, before they were allowed to go back to their homes in 1957, four years after Stalin's death. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first democratic elections in the Russian Federation, the state started paying monetary compensation to those who were born or lived in exile. But the amount paid out was meagre and insulting. Still, the Chechen people hoped they would receive a formal apology from newly elected Russian President Boris Yeltsin. In 1993, during a visit to Poland, he honoured the more than 20,000 Polish officers executed by the Soviets in Katyn at a monument commemorating the massacre. However, neither he nor any of his successors issued a formal apology for the more than 100,000 Chechen and Ingush deaths during the deportation. In 2004, during the raging war in Chechnya, the European Parliament raised a question about recognising this tragedy as genocide. The initiative was not successful and the genocide was not formally recognised. The violent and traumatic experience of deportation was a driving force behind the declaration of Chechnya's independence in 1991. The Chechens did not want to have a repetition of this experience and therefore sought the protection of their statehood through international law. However, Russia's aggression in 1994 against Chechnya shattered these hopes. Even after achieving victory against Russia in 1996, the Chechens found themselves abandoned by the world, meaning it was for Moscow to decide what came next. Three years later, the second Russian aggression against Chechnya followed. During the war, which lasted until 2009, Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, installed an authoritarian regime led by the Kadyrov family. To demonstrate his loyalty to the Kremlin, in 2011, Ramzan Kadyrov, who inherited the presidency of Chechnya from his father Akhmat after his assassination in 2004, forbade the commemoration of the deportation on February 23. Instead, he forced people to celebrate the Russian holiday, the Day of the Motherland Defender. It was only five years ago, in 2020, that some commemoration events were permitted in the republic on February 23. Yet, these ceremonies primarily served to legitimise Kadyrov's power in Chechnya and propagate the cult of personality surrounding his father, Akhmat. In 2023, Kadyrov took a step further and compelled the authors of a newly issued Russian history textbook to revise the section that had justified Stalinist deportations. Of course, this move does not signal a shift in Kadyrov's relationship with the Kremlin. He will remain loyal to Putin as long as he maintains power. But the fact that the Chechen leader who wields absolute power in Chechnya feels compelled to revise his own policies of erasure means he understands that the memory of the deportation will continue to serve as a rallying cry for the Chechens for years to come. The memory of the deportation continues to inspire support for Chechen independence, despite the brutality and devastation of the two Chechen wars. It also motivated hundreds of Chechens to go to Ukraine and fight the invading Russian army in 2022. It is important to remember what happened to the Chechen people today, as Ukrainians also face the danger of suppression and erasure. Ukraine risks being abandoned by the world just as Chechnya was in the 1990s. The consequences can be devastating, just as they have been for the Chechen people who continue to suffer under brutal authoritarianism.
