Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County” is the kind of play that critics and theater aficionados swoon over. Brilliantly written, it is a veritable “great American play,” featuring enough dramatic moments to provide gut-wrenching scenes throughout its very full three acts, with a sprinkling of humor in some of the dialogue and a few of the contrived human interactions. It is, simply stated, a voluptuous feast for those willing to be engrossed in three hours spent viewing a highly dysfunctional family.
The setting for the play is a rustic home in the “plains” of Oklahoma where a retired poet and his long-time wife raised their three daughters and grew old. The play opens with the husband interviewing a Native American woman whom he will hire to care for his wife, who is battling cancer of the mouth and is addicted to pain-killing, disorienting pills that make her even harder to live with, we soon discover, than she probably has otherwise been.
The husband then disappears and ultimately is found to have committed suicide, and in the course of that concern and discovery, the daughters (one of whom has never left the home, one of whom lives in Florida, and one of whom is dealing with a marital separation with a fourteen-year old daughter in tow) all appear, together with the sick wife’s sister and her husband and, eventually, their 37-year-old, hapless and forlorn son. The Florida daughter, the youngest of the three, brings her fiancé, a man ten years her senior. The eldest daughter, with the troubled marriage, arrives with her husband, who is in the midst of an affair with a decidedly younger woman. And the stay-at-home daughter is enjoying her first apparently real romance, but she is keeping the relationship secret for reasons that ultimately become obvious.
And so we have an extended family numbering eleven, if you are keeping score, and all of them, over the course of the play’s three acts, are revealed to have issues of one kind or another. The play, in other words, is Tennessee Williams on steroids. To be specific, without spoiling any plot details, these folks, among more petty, every day concerns, deal with suicide, adultery, sexual assault, drugs (medicinal and otherwise), and incest. In short, if drama is your thing, this is your play.
And if great theater is your thing, the current production of the play at Capital Stage is most definitely your thing. The complex interaction of the play’s inter-familial histrionics is marvelously displayed under the direction of Benjamin T. Ismail (with a terrific set design by Capital Stage co-founder Jonathan Williams) with a superb cast headed by the stunningly brilliant performance of Janis Stevens as the matriarch of the family and the equally compelling portrayal by Amy Resnick as the eldest daughter. These two form the heart of the dramatic twists and turns that occur between and around them and both are marvels to behold. Ms. Stevens is such a great talent, as we have come to appreciate over the years, but she so embodies the role of the intensely angry, headstrong, powerhouse of a woman that it is as if she has lived the part before playing it. And Ms. Resnick is more than equal to the task of being the mother’s foil, forcing her to confront herself, even as she struggles with her own sense of loneliness and despair.
These two are ably supported by the always excellent Jamie Jones as the mother’s younger sister, herself a bundle of misguided energy, holding her own dark secret that, when revealed, leads to the play’s denouement. As her husband, Harvey T. Jordan gives a solid performance, as does Rick Eldridge as the eldest daughter’s unfaithful husband. And Dena Martinez is also spot-on as the youngest daughter, as is Taylor Burris as the middle daughter with the closeted romance.
And a special commendation must go to Rich Hebert as the father who disappears after his opening monologue, which he delivers perfectly, thereby setting the stage for all that follows. In truth there are no weak links in this cast, which also includes Justin D. Muñoz, Jessica Brooks, Tim Church, William Glasser, and Chiitaanibah Johnson. And the production is thoroughly professional in every respect, with additional technical work (beyond that of Mr. Ismail and Mr. Williams) provided by Brian Harrower (lighting design and scenic design assistance), Gail Russell (costume design), and Ed Lee (sound design).
“August: Osage County” won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2008 and the Tony Award for best play that same year. It also received a bunch of other accolades, all richly deserved. It is a play that contains something that every member of any family can relate to in one way or another, which is certainly its strength. But in the Capital Stage production, the core of the play is accentuated in the struggle of each character to find something to hold onto. For that, and for the great acting that the production contains, it is must-see theater.
Performances of “August: Osage County” continue at Capital Stage through November 20. Tickets and information are available at the theater box office (2215 J St.), by phone (916-995-5464) or online (capstage.org).