August: Osage County
Much print has been lavished on Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning domestic drama, “August: Osage County.” And for a damn good reason: it’s brilliant theatre. Well written, extraordinarily directed and superlatively acted. Is that good enough for ya?
Set in a small community in Oklahoma, sixty miles northwest of Tulsa, the play opens with an old, drunken man (Jon DeVries) interviewing a Native-American young woman (Delanna Studi) for a job taking care of he, his pill-addicted wife and their huge, three-story house. After that scene, the father disappears and his three daughters and their respective mates come home for a family gathering.
Wow: a dysfunctioning family. Welcome to 20th Century American theatre. But Letts’ skill in unraveling their secrets, torments and hostilities are part of why we go to the theatre, or watch soaps, or see operas, for heaven’s sake. Rage. Tears. Sarcasm. Suicide. Come see them all. So very 21st Century, too! And while Letts’ play is riveting in its character-revelation and family-blood-letting, it is also extremely funny. Watching professionals spin out their tales, keeping us entertained with their skill, is another major part of an invaluable theatrical experience.
This critic has a theory (arguable) that no actor can be great until after they’ve turned 50: they can be scintillating, brilliant, excellent, etc, but one needs life’s experience in order to be fully understanding of one’s role. Ergo, with most of this cast over 40, and one in her eighties, we can charitably say that all the acting is scintillating, brilliant, exciting and…yes…great. Let me eat my theory for a bit.
Estelle Parsons, who took over the lead role of Violet Weston late in its Broadway run, is our very own Eleonora Duse. Her timing, her concentration, her clear diction let us love this difficult, addicted, mean-mouthed matriarch. Every move counts. Every thought is given full examination. It’s an astonishing performance. Matched, thank God, by Shannon Cochran, as her eldest daughter, Barbara. Their scenes, as well as her other ones with an equally gifted cast, mark Ms. Cochran as a talent to notice and reward.
It’s fair to say that not everyone will respond to the characters’ shenanigans in the same spirit. There’s a meanness to these people, with their lies and foibles, which can be off-putting. But it’s Anna D. Shapiro’s Tony-winning direction that puts the mark of genius on this production. Nothing wasted, everything in its own good time – that’s a brilliance one seldom gets to observe. So go see it and tell your friends –they’ll thank you for it.
“August: Osage County” plays Tuesday through Sundays at the Ahmanson Theatre @ The Music Center of Los Angeles. Through October 18th, 2009. For ticket information: 213.628.2772