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Apr. 12--"Perestroika" turns out to be quite a revelation.
Where there initially was high concept, there now is painful, vulnerable truth. Where there was hesitancy, there is surety. And where there was critical respect tinged with ambivalence, there now is wholehearted recommendation.
In short, it took the young director Sean Graney and his ever-willing Hypocrites until the second half of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" to find their way into this searingly complicated dramatic deconstruction of AIDS and the urban mythology of the Reagan years. But it surely has been worth the wait. After 3 1/2 hours watching them pound each other almost to death Sunday night, it was more than apparent that Graney's honest, gutsy and inestimably hard-working actors had it in them all the time.
All the director had to do was get a bit more out of the way. And to his great credit, Graney was smart enough to belatedly appreciate that self-effacing truth.
It's hard to overstate how much better the Hyprocrites' production of "Perestroika" is than the same troupe's version of "Millennium Approaches," the first part of "Angels in America," which opened at the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre last month and now plays in rotating repertory with "Perestroika." Quite frankly, it's a matter of night and day. This is not a matter of the script -- I don't know anyone who considers Part Two of this masterwork to be markedly better than Part One (most people take the opposite view). It's a matter of a production finding its feet and focus, and substituting vivid human risk for unimportant conceptual clutter. And it's a matter of fine actors getting enough time to do their work.
You could argue that Graney's production still fails to fully capture the soaring spirituality -- the necessary transcendence -- of this fiendishly difficult piece. That's still a fair criticism. But it's now a churlish one. The acting has become that good. Indeed, I've never seen better on the Bailiwick stage. In a decade or more.
There are several moments in "Perestroika" that knock you backward. JB Waterman's Joe Pitt -- a character whose contradictions come home to roost in Part Two -- is on fire in many of these scenes. Scott Bradley's Prior has taken on a new power and gravitas -- a pivotal factor in a successful production of "Angels." And when Kurt Ehrmann's agonized, flailing Roy removes his IV and spurts infected blood around the room, the painful shrieks from the audience are testament to the high level of engagement and belief.
Even Steve Wilson's whiny Louis is now pitch-perfect. This role requires an actor to show us a self-involved victim who can demonstrate hurt on the outside without feeling a single internal wound. Wilson does precisely as asked -- until neither he nor Louis can do it anymore. It's a sight to see.
cjones5@tribune.com
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"Perestroika" ("Angels in America, Part Two")
When: Through May 7 (in rotating rep with "Millennium Approaches")
Where: Bailiwick Repertory, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.
Running time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
Tickets: $25 at 773-883-1090
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