Angels in America is widely regarded as the best contemporary play, for a very good reason. Following the lives of HIV sufferers and their families, it is a story of sadness, love, and the truth of the human experience. This week the fabulous Amy Hopkins caught up with Isobel Knight and Caroline Lang, the directors of Exeter University Theatre Company’s production of Angels in America at the Northcott Theatre on show from the 20th-23rd January.
How do you feel about taking on this kind of project?
Isobel: Theatre is a really good forum to experiment with these out there topics, and student theatre really should be more explosive. This came out at a really important time for the AIDs movement. Now, AIDs is still a problem but most people think it’s just a gay problem.
Caroline: We wanted to push the limits but we also needed to find the line of what’s appropriate… in the end we just decided to just go with it, because it has such a good story. It’s the best contemporary play, and yes some things are controversial but there is nothing that would make you walk out.
How did you approach the edgier issues of the play?
I: We have formed a really strong relationship with the Eddystone Trust who came in and did a talk on the diagnosis and how people live with AIDs. There is nothing worse than watching someone act something they know nothing about!
C: The actors have been doing a lot of research on their own, looking at different resources. Everyone in the cast is quite keen to tackle this issue, and having the talk with people who are HIV+ has really affected them.
Have you followed the traditional ‘doubling’ technique?
C: That was one of our biggest concerns, because if you multi-role the way he asks for in the script, you only have eight actors. We decided against that, which turned out to be a good idea, because it’s almost too contrasting! Having to rehearse three characters per actor would take a year to rehearse.
A lot of issues in the play, such as McCarthyism, AIDs, American politics, aren’t familiar to British audiences, so how do you think it’s going to translate?
C: There have been quite a few instances when I have had to call my mum, who is American, to check details. The themes are quite universal.
I: It is the context of the play that has these American details, but the themes of the play, the love, the guilt, really shine through.
C: There are a few scenes dealing a lot with the politics because of the characters, but you wouldn’t need to know the background to understand it when you watch the play.
And how are you using the stage?
I: We have separate areas of the stage, depicting various scenes. In Act I, there is a section of the stage which is never used, the hospital room, and it is quite jarring to see it because it is immediately recognisable. And the staging team have been amazing, and skilled in taking our crazy ideas and making them a reality.
If you could say one thing to the readers about the show, what would it be?
C: It is so real, and you really fall in love with the characters.
I: It is really human, and I can see aspects of myself in every character. It is real, it is human, and you cannot walk away.
Tickets for Angels in America can be bought online; opening night is 20th January 2016.