‘Angels’ doesn’t feat to tread> Penobscot Theatre drama explosive

After the millennium, when we look back on theater of the 1990s, Tony Kushner’s two-part odyssey, “Angels in America,” is sure to stand out as profoundly as “A Streetcar Named Desire” from the 1940s and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” from the 1950s. “Angels” is a deeply American work, one that shows the workings of a country marked by divisive politics, individual choices, and — in the midst of it all — an insatiable hope.

Last year, Mark Torres presented a grand and piercing production of “Millennium Approaches” at Penobscot Theatre. It’s the half for which Kushner won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in drama, and the half that ends with the appearance of an angel declaring: “Greetings Prophet; The Great Work Begins: The Messenger has arrived.”

For those who left the theater last year with resounding questions, the resolution has arrived with part two of Kushner’s diptych, “Perestroika,” which opened earlier this month and runs through next weekend at Penobscot Theatre. (For those who are coming to the show for the first time, this second half — I’m told by those who didn’t see part one — stands on its own.)

Some may find “Perestroika” is a bit less economically written and, at times, fantastic to the point of just plain weird. But “Perestroika” is a formidable text that is not just for the “open-minded” — as one New York critic suggested. It is for anyone who has a mind and likes using it.

Directed and designed by Jay Skriletz, “Perestroika” has the grittiness of its New York City setting and the transcendence of universal themes such as love, death, MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz,” and the possibilities that lie within the human spirit. Skriletz knows the challenges that face an audience with this play — the adult themes and sexual situations. And he handles them gracefully and politely without ever compromising Kushner’s script.

At times, in fact, the actors may try too hard to mitigate explicit scenes and, by following careful choreography, steal from the spontaneity. But Skriletz knows it’s best to be scrupulous rather than scandalous when the real goal is to reach higher planes.

And this cast does reach beyond complacency and into real storytelling. The performance is marred minorly by tricky technical operations and vocal slackness by the cast. Because much of this play takes place in dreamscapes and splintered reality, viewers need all the help they can get from crisp enunciation and broad projection. The cast succeeds in this to varying degrees, so it’s not a bad idea to read the script before the show.

That aside, this is an audacious production performed by an even cast of talented actors. Most of them have returned from last year’s production, and the reunion feels like a meeting of old friends who have somehow stayed suspended in time since we last saw them.

On a multitiered set that is symbolically dark and precarious, Skriletz has gathered an able crew, including Ron Adams as a young gay man infected with AIDS and abandoned by his lover; Ken Stack as a fictitious refiguring of Roy Cohn, the McCarthy-era henchman and the most closeted victim of AIDS; Gregory T. Arata as Cohn’s protege whose Mormonism, marriage and gay secrets don’t neatly mesh; Deborah Elz Hammond as his pill-popping wife who takes flight toward independence; Reginald Wright as the black former drag queen who is the ethical guidepost at the center of this play; Catherine LeClair as the comical and nightmarish angel; and Alison Cox as Mrs. Pitt and an amazing assortment of other well-crafted roles. Rob Grader is the newcomer here, and turns in a sharp reading of the character of Louis, the lover whose redemption is in question.

The ensemble work in this show is quite remarkable, with equally important contributions made by lighting designer Lynne Chase and costumer Ginger Phelps. Some of the scenes seem forced, and the play clocks in at three hours, so it can seem overly long. But the great triumph of “Angels in America” in its entirety is that it inspires humor, compassion and reflection. Its subtitle is “A Gay Fantasy on National Themes,” but its lasting punch is about humanity in all its shapes and forms.

“Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika” will be performed 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through May 30 at Penobscot Theatre, 183 Main St. in Bangor. For tickets, call 942-3333.