August: Osage County

For those who have seen the film of the same name, August: Osage County will present no plot surprises.  Even the film’s lines largely repeat the play’s verbatim.  Regardless of having seen it, though, I’m confident that you’ll agree that this production of the play is an unmitigated delight, beginning with the detailed setting on a stage that effectively incorporates most of a family home.

The play revolves around the motives of a character who, shortly after we meet him, disappears, and the motives of his wife, who has made an art of simultaneous addictions to nine prescription medications.  The couple’s four children and their two or three spouses and two grandchildren come together to create a family complex that, though utterly believable, maintains your focus through unexpected turns of events and deftness with language in which even the profanities seem entirely natural.

The play itself has several plot faults, all minor.  Chief amongst them, an apparently significant discovery of some recent writings by the missing man is never mentioned again, and the play’s final revelation reveals no plausible motive.  But they’re easy to forgive in a play that is otherwise so strong.

It’s difficult to single out specific aspects of this production for special mention, because it is entirely exceptional, including the great use made of the courtyard studio’s width and depth to convey two floors and an attic.  Lighting focused attention where needed even while activity continued quietly on other parts of the stage.  Props, small and large, contributed much to the rule of entropy over the household’s fate, and a soundtrack managed to inject atmosphere as well as to bed the play in a particular time and place.

But the most extraordinary thing about the production was its consistently great acting.  Gesture, facial expression, timing, and pace of delivery, in actors who have managed good performances in other productions, broke fresh ground here, and all were convincing.  From the jaded family patriarch and formerly well-known poet, Beverly, and his drug-addled wife, Violet, to the grandchildren; the sheriff; and the newly hired live-in cook and carer, Johnna, every character was utterly engaging.  The genuine responsiveness of each character to the others was mesmerising.  The characters’ seemingly spontaneous interactions and emotional honesty evidently reflect a very strong directorial talent as well as inherent acting ability.

Don’t miss it.

John P. Harvey

Image: [L–R] Andrea Close and Karen Vickery, in August: Osage County