REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
...a superb production that features a fantastic cast and succinct direction delivering a moving, immersive, and intimate exploration of this theatrical masterpiece.
Director Ron May has done a fantastic job with a cast who delve into the nuances, layers, and depths of their characters. The solid portrayals under May's crisp direction ensure that there is both clarity and care on hand and that the pace of the play never falters while the three-hour runtime flies by. While Dori Brown's set design, which uses file cabinets of various shapes and sizes, is incredibly vague, it also gives a surreal landscape for the scenes to play off of. Stacey Walston's lighting is fantastic, and the sound design by Pete Bish features impressive effects and a rich musical underscore; the combination of light and sound adds a mix of both humor and terror to the fantastical moments in the drama. The costumes by Allison Gilkey are character and period appropriate.
The cast is excellent. Marshall Glass infuses the character of Prior Walter with an abundance of conviction and pride but also fear and uncertainty. Nathan Spector is perfect as Prior's partner Louis, the neurotic, high-strung, emotional mess of a man who feels guilty and pained by the way he reacts to Prior's HIV diagnosis. Devon Mahon is appropriately fraught with confusion and uncertainty as Joe Pitt, the Mormon husband who has to come to grips with his true sexuality, and Courtney Weir is wonderful as Joe's lonely, fragile, drug addicted wife Harper. All four actors do excellent work depicting these two couples who are at crossroads in their relationships.
Louis Farber is appropriately slimy, controlling, argumentative and malicious as Roy Cohn, although he plays down the terrifying notes of the character other actors I've seen have brought to the role and uses an eerie charm instead to depict the control he has over others. As Belize, Prior's friend, Michael Thompson is fantastic, with a no-nonsense portrayal of this matter-of-fact individual. As a few characters, including Joe's mother Hannah Pitt and Cohn's doctor, Nina Miller brings complete conviction. Megan Holcomb has a calming presence as a nurse who helps Prior, a sense of frenzy for a homeless woman Hannah encounters, and brings both elegance and power to the Angel.