THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 112 lines
WHOEVER HEARD of a dreaming angel?
Tymberlee Hill plays the angel in the Old Dominion University Theater production of ``Angels in America: Millenium Approaches,'' a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama opening Friday on campus.
At play's end, the audience will likely gasp at the sight of Hill, an ODU senior. The stage magic gets cranked up a few notches as she magnificently beckons Prior Walter, a homosexual man who is dying of AIDS.
Lately, however, Hill herself has been gasping - in her sleep, for fear of all her roles.
Besides Angel, Hill is portraying The Voice, a nurse, a Mormon real estate woman, and a crazy street lady in South Bronx. It was the playwright's intention for certain characters to play certain additional roles - for what it suggests, and for theatrical effect.
But Hill - who has a heart-shaped face and smooth cocoa complexion well-suited to an angel - has been having anxiety dreams about these characters.
``I dreamt mostly about that street woman, because she scares me the most,'' she said, relaxing with cast members during a recent rehearsal.
``But I was also having nightmares about Ellen. That she comes to see the show and she's like, `You totally didn't get it, did you!' But, I know she's nicer than that.''
Hill was speaking of Ellen McLaughlin, the New York actress for whom the role of Angel was written. Last summer, Hill acted in a play written and directed by McLaughlin in Chautauqua, N.Y.
McLaughlin is the angelic connection for this production. She's a friend to Christopher Hanna, who heads ODU's theater program and who is directing ``Angels.''
Like a wise and knowing voice from on high, McLaughlin spoke from her home in Westchester County: ``Tymberlee is a wonderful actress. I wish I could see it. She has all kinds of qualities to bring to bear on that set of characters. All of them good. She's a major talent.''
There it is: A dream comment from the original angel.
Hill's talk of dreams spurred revelations from her fellow actors. ``I've been having horrible dreams that I don't remember,'' said Cortney Morse, an ODU senior who portrays Harper, a Valium addict who is married to a closeted homosexual. ``Apocalyptic dreams. When I first went away to college, I had apocalyptic dreams. But then, I've had two in the last two weeks.''
``You know, I've never had an actor's nightmare,'' piped in Ethan Marten, the Norfolk veteran actor. He's a heterosexual portraying Louis, Prior Walter's lover.
Instead, he said, ``I have dreams like this: I was on the operating table, and they slit me right down my whole body. They slit me open, and helped me pull Louis right out of my chest.
``I call it a nightmare,'' Marten said. ``And Louis looked like a bloody, blankin' mess. Then they showed me Louis, and he was like a baby. And they put him in my arms. And from that point on, I could relax. I could nurture him.''
The other actors stared at him with amazement.
Theater scholars nationwide agree that Tony Kushner's ``Angels in America'' is among the most significant plays of the second half of the 20th century. It has been acclaimed in every corner.
Newsweek magazine called it ``the most ambitious American play of our time.''
The New York Times described it as ``a vast, miraculous play'' that was ``a searching and radical rethinking of American political drama.''
Variety called it ``a three-hour cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more.''
Yet encapsulating the play's themes remains an arduous task.
``Omigosh,'' said Hill, when asked what ``Angels'' is all about. ``OK. OK. Well, it's about many things. It's about politics, it's about relationships, it's about belief systems. It's about AIDS. God. Yeah, God. And the death of, or absence of God.''
Director Hanna mused over Kushner's themes: ``He's got the political. He's got the emotional. The personal, the theatrical. I can't think of any other playwright in this country who can balance such an equation.''
Hanna met Kushner in the late 1980s, when both were at Juilliard School in Manhattan. Hanna was teaching; Kushner was a resident writer. Hanna has seen only one performance of ``Angels'' - at Juilliard, about four years before the drama hit Broadway.
Hanna decided in the spring to mount ``Angels.''
``It just hit me: `Oh my God. `Angels in America' might not get done in this town, if we don't do it.' ''
The production is part of the ODU Literary Festival, which focuses this year on censorship issues. While ``Angels'' deals with heated subjects, such as AIDS, bigotry and homophobia, it has been widely produced and has drawn scarce criticism.
Karen Gould, dean of the college of arts and letters, said that university officials are supportive of the production.
``Choosing a play such as `Angels in America' to be performed here, aside from the fact that it has received tremendous acclaim in New York and other cities across the country and is well regarded by the theatrical establishment at this point - aside from that very obvious reason. And aside from the tremendous artistic talents of Tony Kushner, it seems to me, the choice of this play is appropriate to the theme for this year. It does challenge certain artistic norms, and questions quite seriously our social conventions.
``Given its themes, and the way it deals with those themes - and it does enter into the realm of public debate about various social issues, including AIDS and the status of gay rights in this country, and other social issues related to minority rights.
``So that I think, in many ways, it's a very appropriate play.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
Left, Prior (Bruce Hansen) is visited in his hospital bed by
ancestors preparing him for his death. Above, Louis (Ethan Marten)
comforts Joe (Kent Collins).
Photo
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
Prior (Bruce Hansen) is confronted by Louis (Ethan Marten) in a
scene from ``Angels'' in which they break up. In the background are
Harper (Cortney Morse) and (Joe) Kent Collins. by CNB