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Kushner Speaks Out: Playwright Tony Kushner Saturday night denounced Southern critics of his Pulitzer- and Tony-winning “Angels in America,” which deals with AIDS and homosexuality, before a sold-out production of the play began at the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte. “I absolutely believe we should not change what we’re doing on stage because of fundamentalist bigots,” he told the audience. A coalition of religious leaders and citizens had tried to stop the play from opening last week. Their objections centered on a scene in which an actor facing the audience drops his pants. But a court order allowed the performances, defending the play as art. The order expires at the end of the month, at which time attorneys for the theater company will ask for an injunction to protect further performances of the play, which runs through April 26.