Terri Park (graduate-theatre) left the Arts Building at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday and promptly collapsed onto the sidewalk.

After almost six hours of rehearsing for Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Park was exhausted. She lit a cigarette and puffed occasionally while shaking. Likely, she was shivering because of the cold April air. But she may have shook because of the emotional toll of the play.

"We're only doing the first show (Millennium Approaches)," she said. "Thank God for that. This has been such an epic adventure."

Epic is an apt description. Angels in America is broken up into two parts -- Millennium Approaches and Perestroika -- and each is about three hours. Each half, while often sardonic and sometimes wildly funny, is a hard and weighted look at contemporary social issues.

"It is heavy subject matter," said cast member Steve Broadnax (graduate-theatre), who joined Park outside. "I remember when we were rehearsing, the director had us watching these films on the '80s and AIDS and sexuality. We would get in these big discussions and just cry. There was anger and all these emotions because of the sensitive things that we were dealing with."

AIDS and its impact on the gay community in 1980s is America is Angels' most prominent theme. Park said she was thrilled that the play was scheduled during Pride Week, a time when the gay community focuses on celebration and remembrance.

"There isn't a better week for this play to open," she said. "We still have lots of gay men and lesbians dying from AIDS. It's still a huge issue in the community. Even though the death rate has maybe somewhat slowed, there are generations of gays out there who have lost members of their families, and they'll carry that with them for their whole life."

But Angels in America isn't just about the chaos that AIDS can cause, Broadnax said. He said the play is also about love, hope and the endurance of the human heart.

"There's a scene at the café where (my character) is asked about love, and how love is very hard," Broadnax said. "Someone says to me, 'I don't know if I can deal with the sickness. Real love is never that difficult.' I correct him because, no, love is hard, real love is that difficult. It's not easy. You have to look at the bright side, look at the sky. See the snow on the ground."

Park agreed, crediting Angels in America writer Tony Kushner for focusing on emotion as much as action.

"He understands the human heart," she said. "And that's a required ingredient for any good playwright. I think he's forecasting a necessary change in human nature, or how we behave toward one another. We need to trust people. For example, I need to be able to look at Steve with forgiveness, and see his faults but still say that he's a beautiful man because of who he is."

Broadnax smiled.

"One of my lines is 'softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace,' " Broadnax said. "I think that definitely is what you come away with."

Both Park and Broadnax stressed that despite shifts in the public's view of AIDS and its representation in the media, Angels in America is as timely as ever. People's views on AIDS may have changed, Park said, but the human spirit has not.

"The play was profound in its timeliness," she said. "The anger and chaotic nature and paranoia of that time, when we didn't know what AIDS was about and how people would get it -- that was such a big deal. I think a lot of the gay community felt very slighted and ignored by the medical community. And perhaps that isn't as timely, but that's OK, because there's a deeper message of the play: softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace. Those are universal themes that are always relevant."

Park jumped back into the conversation.

"Forgiveness," she said. "It's about forgiveness and about being true to yourself and about learning to trust yourself. You learn to trust that you have an inner compass that will speak truth to you. That's what I think."

The two actors looked at each other and laughed.

"Softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace," they said in unison. "That's what it's all about."

The School of Theatre will produce Angels in America at 8 tonight, tomorrow and April 16 through 20. There will be a 2 p.m. matinee on April 20. All shows are at the Playhouse in the Arts Building.

Tickets for evening performances are $8.50 for students and $10.50 for others. Matinee tickets are $6.50 for students and $9.50 for others.

For more information, call the School of Theatre at 865-7587.