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His passion for politics is clearly reflected in his work, from Angels in America to Homebody/Kabul, which focuses on the chaos of life in Afghanistan. But when he was approached to be the subject of a documentary about his life and work, he was hesitant. “It took me a long time to say yes,” Kushner says. “I thought, ‘Why would anyone want to see something like this? What do I do on a daily basis that would even be worth filming?' I spend most of my day writing.”

Because he was working on a variety of creative projects at the time that the documentary was made, he finally decided to go ahead with the documentary. “We were shooting the Angels in America film. Homebody/Kabul was going into rehearsal. I knew Caroline, or Change would be in workshop. I had this book with Maurice Sendak about to come out. So I knew there would be a lot going on that would be public, and not just me sitting in my room trying to think of the next line.”

The documentary allows us to watch a playwright in the process of his craft. Homebody/Kabul, for example, covers themes about religion that are familiar to Kushner, but also delves into clashing cross-cultural customs in pre-9/11, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan . In many ways, Kushner's own background reflects clashing cultures within America, and his work in turn is a reflection of his background.

This is evident in Wrestling With Angels because the documentary is not just about his work or politics. Freida Mock, the director of the documentary, shot personal elements of Kushner's life as well, including his wedding to Mark Harris in April 2003, and his father's 80th birthday.

Kushner says he feels happy to have had these events filmed, and the documentary makes it clear that his family and friends have always been very important in his life and writing career. His father especially seems to have been pivotal in shaping him as an artist; Kushner went to him for criticism early on in the process of writing Angels. Though their relationship has been loving and close, it was not always easy. 

One of the more tense moments in the documentary comes when Kushner reads a poem with liberal leanings to the mostly conservative audience at his father's birthday party. The response by some in the crowd is less than flattering.

He explains it this way: “My father lives in Louisiana, which is overwhelmingly conservative. My father is not, but the town is. It's the South. Everybody votes Republican. … I think basically it was good-natured booing. A lot of these people vote Republican, but they see my plays, and they like them. It's weird.”

Given Kushner's liberal political beliefs, how could he possibly understand the red state crowd greeting him at his father's birthday? “There are things about their lives that I don't pretend to understand,” he says. “I don't pretend to understand everyone's life,” but, “More power to them, as long as they are not doing any harm to anyone.”

It's easy to forget that Kushner and his family are from the South — the locale in which Caroline, or Change is set. The play is about a Jewish boy who seeks the affections of his family's black maid as a surrogate mother; in Louisiana, Kushner's family co-owns a business in conjunction with black owners. Kushner may not be a red state voter, but it's clear that though he disagrees with their politics, conservative enclaves are not completely alien to him.

“I think that it was really bad that the state of Louisiana spent all of its time … worrying about gay people, and not making certain that the levees in New Orleans in the ninth ward would actually protect people from significant storms,” Kushner says. He adds that he believes that behind this is a wish that liberals should be just a little quieter about issues, like gay rights, that don't play well.

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