Louis assumes Joe is gay, but Joe again denies it.

Joe and Louis have a run-in in a bathroom. Prior gets sicker and begins to hear a mystical voice. Prior seems worried that Louis will desert him, and so does Louis. When Prior reveals to Louis the first of many lesions to come, the reality of AIDS crashes down on the two men. Meanwhile, we also meet Louis Ironson and Prior Walter, the other main couple in the play. As the two argue over going to Washington, Harper's suspicions that Joe is secretly gay come to light, though he denies it. But first he's got to convince his wife, Harper, who we soon learn spends most of her time hallucinating on the prescription drug valium. Joe is excited to go join the conservative Reagan revolution. Roy Cohn, a lawyer and powerbroker, offers his young protégé, Joe Pitt, a chance to work for the Justice department in Washington, DC. Summaries Act 1: Bad News The first act of Millennium Approaches sets up all the major storylines of this overlapping plot. Sarah Ironson Louis's grandmother, Sarah's funeral takes place in the first scene of Millennium. Prior I is a medieval farmer, Prior II a seventeenth- century Londoner who is more sophisticated and cosmopolitan in outlook. Prior I and Prior II Prior's ancestors who are summoned from the dead to help prepare the way for the Angel's arrival.

Like Emily, she urges her friend to settle down and remain at home. Sister Ella Chapter A real estate agent who handles the sale of Hannah's house in Salt Lake. Martin is fundamentally spineless, allowing Roy to manipulate him in order to impress Joe and then taking the abuse that Roy heaps on him along with a blackmail threat. Martin Heller A Justice Department official and political ally of Roy's. Emily is one of several characters who give voice to the same anti-migratory impulse as the Angel, she tells Prior in no uncertain terms to stay put. She summons him whenever she wants to escape from her present surroundings Henry Roy's doctor, whom Roy threatens with destruction lest he refer to him as a homosexual Emily A nurse who attends to Prior in the hospital. Lies is one of Harper's imaginary creations. Lies A travel agent who resembles a jazz musician, Mr. Rabbi Isador Chemelwitz An elderly rabbi who delivers the eulogy at the funeral of Sarah Ironson Mr. The Ethel of the play returns as a ghost to take satisfaction in the death of her persecutor, Roy. Ethel Rosenberg A real-life Jewish woman who was executed for treason during the McCarthy era.

Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner