However, the genius of Kushner's Angels is that this is no woeful presentation of tragedy, but an ingenious, multi-faceted presentation of the full complexity of people in crisis. The comic relief is brilliant. Of the three hours of running time, nearly a third is comic, and it is frequently side-splitting. It's ironic that I would have to say Angels is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen. Beyond that, though, it's an inspiring play.
Hallucinations come to life.
The dead reappear to condemn some and bless others. Strangers miles apart suddenly find themselves in each others' homes simultaneously. Angels are about, and about what, we don't entirely know. With an less competent writer, the surreal and supernatural aspects of the play would seem experimental and disastrous, but Kushner's hand enables us to simply appreciate that the world of these characters is a spiritual as well as physical , a world where no one's sin or virtue affects him alone, a world where no one sees everything about anything. A world like ours.