THEATRE: AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY
August: Osage County is a family affair. Playwright Tracy Letts based the she-devil, drug-addled matriarch Violet Weston on his maternal grandmother; reportedly when he gave the script to his mother, her first response was, “You’ve been very kind.” His father Daniel Letts made his Broadway debut as the expansive, poetical patriarch Beverly Weston; but unfortunately did not live to see his son win a Pulitzer for the play. The Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble is a creative unit in itself, responsible for birthing acting greats like Gary Sinise, John Malkovich and Joan Allen. And of course the kernel from which the sprawling three-hour theatrical creeps is the family, whether that be the flesh and blood kind or its loftier, metaphorical cousin; the American nation (the notes cite Ronald Reagan’s words: it is “The nucleus of civilisation.”) If so, this is a society in wrack and ruin. It opens with the father quoting T.S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men to his newly employed, Native American housekeep. This turns out to be portentous; soon he disappears. Into a hollowed-out house pour in the broken souls, the three daughters and their partners, the bickering aunt and uncle, the ganja-puffing granddaughter, the dopey cousin. Each spark of resentment, guilt, obligation and love leads towards an all-out prairie fire in the electric dinner scene. Each performer (all hail from Chicago’s Steppenwolf) nails their role – particularly the Tony Award-winning Deanna Dunagan as Violet. You can tell Tracy Letts is an actor’s playwright – having once been one himself, he knows what works and what doesn’t. And his ensemble members relish the high drama. You will too. It sounds exhausting – and perhaps, the last half is over-laboured – but you can’t help but feel a wicked kind of glee as the family, finally, falls apart. Would we wish the same on America? Perhaps. But then we’d miss out on productions like this one.
Until Sept 25, Sydney Theatre Company, Walsh Bay, $40-80, 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au
