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Tony Kushner, born 1956
Hailed as "a new American masterpiece," Tony Kushner's epic play Angels in America (subtitled A Gay Fantasia on National Themes) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Comprising two dramas-Millennium Approaches and Perestroika-that deal with the themes of homosexuality and AIDS, this searing play was a call for tolerance amid the conservative politics of Reagan-era America. Part I, which opened on Broadway in 1992, was nominated for nine Tony Awards and ultimately won four, including that for best play. Kushner's more recent work has included the play Homebody/Kabul (2001), the musical Caroline, or Change (2003), and the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's 2005 film Munich, about the hunt for the murderers of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Unafraid to challenge audiences with provocative material, Kushner explains, "A world of audiences hungry for the Difficult is the sort of world I want."
Susan Johann, 1993 |