September 9th, 2017 - 1:00 pm
The Rehoboth Beach Film Society announces the next play in the exciting series of National Theatre Live screenings. National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking project that presents the best of British theater live from the London stage on film to cinemas across the UK and around the world.
In the mid-1980s, while America was in the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell.
This new staging of Tony Kushner’s multi-award winning two-part play, “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes”, is directed by Olivier and Tony award winning director Marianne Elliott (“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and “War Horse”). Part One: “Millennium Approaches” was first performed at the National Theatre in 1992 and was followed by Part Two:” Perestroika” the following year.
In the first part, we meet Louis and Prior and Harper and Joe, two couples whose relationships are on the rocks: the former because of Prior’s AIDS diagnosis and Louis’s inability to cope with illness, the latter because of Joe’s closeted homosexuality and Harper’s incessant fears and hallucinations, as well as her addiction to pain-killers. As we follow these couples’ trials, we come across a handful of other colorful characters. Using these characters as mouthpieces, Kushner characteristically dives deeply into political and intellectual themes while generating a vital, living, breathing story, and populating it with characters, both real and fictional, whom we come to both love and abhor.
Andrew Garfield (“Silence”, “Hacksaw Ridge”) plays Prior Walter along with a cast including Denise Gough (“People, Places and Things”), Nathan Lane (“The Producers”), James McArdle (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and Russell Tovey (“The Pass”).
Part One: “Millennium Approaches” will be shown in September. Part Two: “Perestroika” will be shown in October.
“WhatsOnStage” gives the production 5 stars and states, “A blistering production. The entire cast are superb”. And “Metro” says “Few shows are more life-enriching than this.” (Rated: R, Runtime 3 hrs, 30 min, with two intermissions).
Screenings of Part One: “Millennium Approaches” will be on Saturday, September 9th at 1:00 pm, Monday, September 11th at 1:00 pm and Tuesday, September 12th at 6:00 pm at the Cinema Art Theater, 17701 Dartmouth Drive in Dartmouth Plaza (behind the Lewes Wawa). Admission for National Theatre Live is $18 for RBFS members, $20 general admission and $15 for ages 16 and under. Online reservations (www.rehobothfilm.com) are encouraged and may be made with MasterCard or VISA.
The mission of the RBFS is promoting cinematic arts and providing education and cultural enrichment for our community. The Film Society sponsors ongoing screenings, special events, and the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival (Nov 2 -12, 2017). Having met all the requirements for best practices in nonprofit management, the Rehoboth Beach Film Society is accredited by the Standards for Excellence Institute®. The Film Society is funded, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com. For more information on this series, other events, or to become a member, visit the Rehoboth Beach Film Society website at www.rehobothfilm.com, or call 302-645-9095.