Gammage Goers - Alumnus

August: Osage County
Editorial Report from Michael Frank
January 6, 2010

August: Osage County is a LONG theatrical production by the famed Steppenwolf Theater Company of Chicago.  It has enjoyed a successful tenure in NYC and received the TONY award for best play, as well as the esteemed Pulitzer Prize.

When my wife and I were waiting in the lobby to enter the auditorium, we both noticed that there was a notice board stating that there were 2 intermissions (1-15 and 1-10 minute).  How long is this play????  I asked one of the ushers and they said “over 3 hours”!  They continued “can you believe it”???  From there, my first thought is that “this had better be good”!  I mean really!  How can you keep an audience focused in their seats for that long?  My wife even quizzed me about how this play would have even worked in NYC since everyone must be off the set by 11:00 PM per the union agreements there.

Well, here is the answer.  A brilliant mix of intensity and comedy with characters whom you either relate to yourself or know someone like them played magnificently by the touring cast.  I have to admit, when the play started, I couldn’t understand some of the deep Oklahoman drawls that shrieked from the opening monologue.  My thought…”Listen harder”!  I wanted to understand the complexities of this show right from the start.  To my surprise, the play lacks complexities like Oklahoma lacks “city folk”.  Instead there were intriguing twists and spins and they all seemed to fit in a neat little package at the “Weston house”.

The story is about a dysfunctional family that has reconvened itself at its home in rural Oklahoma to mourn the loss of the husband of main character Violet Weston.  Violet has three daughters who have all traveled very different paths since leaving home.  Those daughters have chosen spouses or significant others and the oldest has a daughter, Jean.  The story’s length is due in no small part by the “in depth” display of each character and how their personality personifies the character of the family as a whole.  We get to learn about their past, their present, and their future.  The playwright doesn’t even skimp on the recently obtained housekeeper, Johnna, or the local sheriff, Deon.  This very intriguing cast of characters is governed by the matriarch of the family, Violet who has a hard time governing her own life (or does she).  Every time I thought I had sized Violet up (played wonderfully by Estelle Parsons), she shows me a different side or nuance that says something completely different about her character.  Just when I thought she was certifiably crazy, she would show articulation and understanding of an event or situation that defied my assessment.  At times where I thought she was clearing her head and thinking rationally, she would make a comment that brought me back to the “screw loose” mentality.  Drugs have a way of altering mind and spirit, and Violet liked that.  As she said; “these little blue guys are my best friend; they never let me down”!  Although we do understand that Violet’s cancer has led her to drugs, we never really clearly understand why the addiction is violent.  Although one is led to believe that her childhood would lend itself to some sort of vice.

However, this show isn’t only about Violet, or it would have been over in an hour and a half.  This show was equally about the “Weston Girls” (as they used to be called).  Character introductions are scattered between acts 1 and 2 and I couldn’t help but allow myself to be more immersed in the web of innocence and sinning that continues to build in this production into a huge crescendo.  From Barbara and Bill Fordham (Barbara being Violet’s oldest daughter) who tried to escape the realities of the Weston home only to find failure in their own marriage and family (complete with pot smoking 14 year old daughter) to Ivy Weston whose “chip on her shoulder’ of being the only one to stay behind with mom has propelled her into a very ill advised relationship with cousin Charles (at least we think cousin), the son of Violet’s sister Mattie Fae to Karen Weston, the ditsy youngest sister who is gullible to everything, has no concept of reality (or is at the very least ignoring it) hysterically played by Amy Warren (a member of the original cast).  All the Weston girls seem to compliment each other in the most curious way and yet they offer no real connection to each other in dialogue.  None of the girls stay in touch with the other and the only reason they convene now is over the loss of their father.  Yet in spite of all of this depression, there underlies a tremendous sense of humor.  Something so grounded that you find yourself reflecting as being involved in those types situations and laughing about it.

My favorite character had to be Barbara Fordham though.  Barbara just wanted to get away and start a life of sanity with her husband Bill and daughter Jean.  What she got instead was infidelity on behalf of her husband which has ultimately led to separation and the scorn of her teenage daughter who is being “coddled” by dad who allows her to smoke cigarettes and pot without repercussion, ultimately trying to win her favor.  As she tries to work through the challenges of family and her mother, you can see her morphing during the show into the personality of her recently deceased father.  Shannon Cochran does an incredible job of allowing you into the character’s soul and you can feel the pain, the failure, the desire to give up one minute and fight back the next.  She is a compelling character that many of us can relate to.

I don’t want to share any more as my critique is getting as long as the show is.  I do highly recommend attending this show and enjoy the SHORT 3 hour performance as August: Osage County closes its curtain too soon!