More of Kushner's provocative writing can be found in Thinking about the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness: Essays, A Play, Two Poems, and a Prayer (1995). As the lengthy and descriptive title indicates, the work contains another play, Slavs!, as well as some of Kushner' s thoughts, in essay form, on relationships, sexuality, identity, and American politics.

Larry Kramer's 1985 drama The Normal Heart examines the AIDS epidemic as the public was just becoming aware of the problem. The play dramatizes the early history of the disease and accuses the government, media, and conservative religious groups of ignoring the public health threat by labeling the epidemic a "gay plague."

Kushner cites the work of German playwright Bertolt Brecht as a strong influence on his writing style. Some of Brecht's better known epic plays are Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good...