Playwright Tony Kushner to deliver Vassar’s 138th commencement address, May 26

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner will deliver Vassar College's 138th commencement address on Sunday, May 26, at 10 a.m. in the outdoor amphitheater overlooking Sunset Lake.
Kushner is perhaps best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning epic about AIDS,"Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," described by Newsweek as the "broadest, deepest, most searching American play of our time." His most recent work, "Homebody/Kabul," was written prior to the September 11 attacks. It was described by the New York Times as an "eerily prophetic" play about Afghanistan. "Homebody/Kabul" opened in December at the New York Theatre Workshop and is currently on tour.
In addition to a Pulitzer Prize, "Angels in America" received two Tony Awards, the Evening Standard Award, the New York Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, two Olivier Award Nominations, and the LAMBDA Literary Award for Drama. In 1998, London's National Theatre selected "Angels in America" as one of the 10 best of the 20th century.
Kushner's other plays include "Hydriotaphia," "A Bright Room Called Day," "Slavs!: Thinking about the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness," and adaptations of Goethe's "Stella," Brecht's "The Good Person of Setzuan," Ansky's "The Dybbuk," and Corneille's "The Illusion."

Kushner's current projects, in addition to "Homebody/Kabul," include "Henry Box Brown or the Mirror of Slavery" and two musical plays, "St. Cecelia or the Power of Music" and ""Caroline or Change." He is collaborating with Maurice Sendak (Vassar's commencement speaker in 1996) on an American version of the children's opera "Brundibar." His most recent book is "Death & Taxes: Hydriotaphia and other Plays."
He has received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Whiting Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters; he also received a Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Fellowship, and a medal for Cultural Achievement from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.
Vassar's commencement is open to the public. Seating is first come, first served. In the event of severe weather conditions, the ceremony will take place in the Williamson Auditorium at Walker Field House and seating will be limited.
For additional information, contact the Office of Campus Activities at (845) 437-5370. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Cathy Jennings, Office of Campus Activities, (845) 437-5370, as far in advance as possible to request appropriate and reasonable accommodations for the event.
Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Sunday, May 26th, 2002.