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Birth Date
Tony Kushner was born July 16, 1956 in Manhattan, New York. -
Family Members
Kushner was born to William Kushner and Sylvia Deutscher Kushner. His parents have lots of involvement in orchestra, his mother being a bassoonist, and his father being a clarinetist and later conductor for the Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra when they moved there. -
Family Members
Before they moved to Lake Charles both his parents retired from music. Both of his parents are deceased, Slyvia Deutscher Kushner 15 Dec 1924 - 27 Aug 1990 (65 years), William Kushner 14 March 1924 - 11 March 2012 (87) -
Family Members
Tony Kushner has 2 other siblings, Lesley Kushner, and Eric Kushner, there was not much information provided about them. -
Childhood Shelter
Although he was born in Manhattan New York, he spent most of his childhood in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 1958, his family moved there when he was 2 years old, and it is his father's birthplace as well. -
Education
There is not much or no information about his childhood education but he did attend a Louisiana Highschool in the 60s and this is where he had excelled in high school debating and later started college with the interest of directing. This may be the reason most of his plays are politically influenced. -
Education continuation
In 1974 Kushner moved back to New York for his undergraduate studies and went to Columbia University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Medieval Studies(1978). Later he attended Tisch School of Arts at NYU. -
Coming out / Marriage
September 1981 is when he marks the date of coming out, he called his mother on an East Village pay phone to tell her this. It wasn't until 2008 where he was legally married to Mark Harris, and they have been married since then to the present now. -
Influence
A good amount of Kushner's work is influenced by Bertolt Brecht's style of theatre, epic theatre. It has aspects like being socially conscious throughout the plays and making you think about the political conflicts and complexities during a certain time period. -
A Bright Room Called Day
This was one of the first plays by Tony Kushner. This play takes place in Germany in 1932 and 1933, with a group of friends that were caught up in the events of the fall of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi party's rise to power. This play was inspired by Bertolt Brecht's 1938 The Private life of the Master Race. This is a play that shows the political influence on Kushner's plays. -
AIDS Epidemic
This was a major public health crisis in the 1980s and had major impact on individuals, communities, and societies. Many people died from the disease and the survivors faced discrimination. Another affect was an increase in homophobia because this disease mostly affected a large amount of gay men and they were blamed for the epidemic. -
Angels In America
Angels In America is Tony Kushner's most known works. This is a two part play that spans about seven hours. This play explores many different topics mainly around Reagan-era politics and the significant effects of the AIDS epidemic in the gay community. The play shows the relationship of these two topics and the results of being concurrent to each other. -
Angels In America, Part One: Millennium Approaches
The play is set during the 1980s during the AIDS crisis and the Reagan era of politics, these two time periods having lots of division, fear and uncertainty. This first part focuses on the impact of the AIDS epidemic and the effects it had on the characters lives, showing their despair and loss. The main message being that connection and community is important for people, especially during the events that had occurred at this time. -
Angels In America, Part Two: Perestroika
This is set in the same time, and focuses on the characters internal struggles of identity, and relationships going through this time period, as well as their shift in life. They try to find their meaning and purpose while facing the problems of the AIDS crisis and political climate. The main message this part is adapting to the situations and being able to change, the word Perestroika is a Russian word meaning restructuring, and it is very fitting for its theme of this part. -
Awards for Angels In America
For Millennium Approaches, the awards won were the Evening Standards Award for Best Play. 4 Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actor In Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play, and Best Directed Play. There were also 5 Drama Desk Awards for similar categories. It also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Perestroika won similar awards, 3 Tony awards and 3 Drama Desk Awards again in similar categories. -
Slavs! : Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness
This was a play written in 1994 by Tony Kushner and is set during the falling of the USSR. It includes lots of humor about exploring life in the Soviet Union and during the Perestroika period, the restructuring of the economical and political state of the Soviet Union. It also shows life trying to immigrate as a Slavic person, finding a new place in the world. -
Homebody/Kabul
This play is about a London Housewife and her fascination with Afghanistan. She disappears going to Afghanistan and her husband and daughter looking for her, following her there to Afghanistan. While they are searching they become more immersed with the culture and history of Afghanistan. The play focuses on the nature of violence, due to the many centuries of war, showing the impact of of violence, and cultural identity, showing how it shapes us and the conflicts of it. -
Caroline, or Change
This is a musical that was set in the time 1963 in Lake Charles Louisiana, and is about a black maid working for a family and struggling to keep up for her 4 children during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. It shows that there are hopes and dreams in the time of social and political change in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Munich (Screenplay)
Besides his plays, Kushner has also written screenplays for very popular movies, screenplays are movies written as plays, or a movie script. Munich's screenplay by Kushner focuses on the exploration of Israeli government's response to the Munich Olympics Massacre in 1972. It follows Israeli Mossad agents that carry out assassinations on the terrorist group that did the massacre. The screen play shows more of the psychological effects on the agents. Makes people think of the nature of terrorism. -
Lincoln (Screenplay)
This is another film by Steven Spielberg, and screenplay written by Tony Kushner. This is an American biographical and historical drama about Abraham Lincoln's life, the challenges and efforts he went through to abolish slavery. Kushner's screenplay is a good portrayal of American History during Lincoln's time. -
West Side Story (Screenplay)
Again this is a film by Steven Spielberg and screenplay written by Tony Kushner. Of course this is a musical romantic drama based off of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It tries to stay with the adaptation of the classic musical and has small changes reflecting the modern world. Kushner's screenplay of it includes more social and political issues dealing with the gang conflicts. -
Health Issues
It does not seem like Tony Kushner has any current or past health issues. -
The Fablemans (Screenplay)
Yet another film by Steven Spielberg and screenplay by Tony Kushner. It is a semi autobiographical story, loosely based off of Steven Spielberg's first few years as a filmmaker, following the character of an aspiring filmmaker that wants to learn about the power of film to see the truth around him. -
General/Lifetime Awards
2004 - Emmy-Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
2012 - Boston Society of Film Critics-Best Screenplay
2012 - New York Film Critics Circle-Best Screenplay
2023 - Golden Globe-Best Motion Picture Drama He was also nominated for many other awards. -
References
https://howlround.com/more-life-angels-america#
https://www.barclayagency.com/speakers/tony-kushner
https://study.com/learn/lesson/tony-kushner-biography-plays.html#
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tony-Kushner
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/1920/bright-room/
https://www.diversionary.org/abrightroomcalledday#
https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/angels-in-america-part-1/analysis/writing-style#
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2002/may/23/theatre.artsfeatures1 -
References
https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tony-kushner/bio/3030559687/
https://www.nytw.org/show/homebodykabul/#
https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6153/the-art-of-theater-no-16-tony-kushner
https://blog.arenastage.org/meet-the-playwright-tony-kushner/#
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/oct/05/theatre4#
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1992/11/30/tony-kushners-paradise-lost#
https://www.stagemilk.com/best-plays-by-tony-kushner/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner