Dysfunctional families are a boon to playwrights. From Shakespeare to Eugene O'Neill, from Moliere to Arthur Miller, they've provided the material on which writers have thrived, but rarely has dysfunctionality achieved the level Tracy Letts reaches in "August: Osage County," which opened at the Fox last night. From that simple title, he takes us down a path of pain and savagery, humiliation and despair, that holds one riveted for 3 1/2 hours. And it's not for children; there's almost constant profanity, used in anger and almost in innocence, as when three 40-ish daughters, their laughter almost hysterical, discuss the female anatomy and hiding places for their mother's pills.
The play won a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize two years ago, and they're well-deserved. And the acting is splendid, led by the veteran Estelle Parsons, triumphant in a demanding role she played for 11 months on Broadway before coming out on tour. Right alongside, battling her for power and place, is Shannon Cochran as her eldest daughter, Barbara, fighting to save her marriage and to deal with a 14-year-old daughter. Strange as it may seem, she doesn't have as many demons to deal with as her mother, and the 82-year-old Parsons is simply amazing with the power and discipline she brings to the role. Parsons has been a stage actress since 1956, when she appeared with Ethel Merman, and in 1967 she won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Bonnie and Clyde."
Like Tennessee Williams, Letts uses heat as a metaphor, and August in Oklahoma isn't unlike August in Louisiana; and emotions are heightened by menopausal hot flashes now and then.
Todd Rosenthal's three-story, Tony-winning set, adds another dimension to the action, but it's a little startling to walk into the Fox and see a three-story house that fills the stage and looks a lot like the one John Ezell designed for "The Diary of Anne Frank," now in its final week at the Rep.
Violet Weston (Parsons) is a snake-tongued, angry, pill-popping harpy, and matriarch of this group. When her husband, a charming, winsome poet (a lovely performance by Jon DeVries) disappears, her two out-of-town daughters arrive, dragging husbands, fiances, children and truckloads of emotional baggage. The single middle daughter, Ivy (Angelica Torn), has remained in Oklahoma. Barbara Fordham (Cochran) is separated from her husband (Jeff Still) but he comes along to provide support. They have a typically rebellious adolescent daughter, Jean (Emily Kinney). The youngest sister, Karen (Amy Warren), brings her thrice-married fiance, Steve (Laurence Lau) and is about to achieve her ultimate wishes, marriage and a honeymoon in Belize. And then there's Violet's sister, Mattie Fae (Libby George), her husband, Charlie (Paul Vincent O'Connor), and their son, Little Charlie (Steve Key). Don't forget the newly hired maid, Johnna (DeLanna Studi), who becomes important to the plot. By the way, Torn has superb acting genes; she's the daughter of Rip Torn and Geraldine Page.
Actually, they're all important, and director Anna D. Shapiro (another Tony winner) does a superior job in providing focus and the spotlight for each. And they have more problems, more turmoil than several seasons of a TV drama. We soon see the dynamic, discover the many secrets as they unfold, become involved with them. The acting is impressive from top to bottom, the story unfolds in bits and pieces, with fine timing by actors and the director. It's a little long, but it's a saga, which gives the length some justification.
It's the first visit to St. Louis for "August: Osage County," but it was well worth the wait. It will be at the Fox through March 14, the first day of daylight savings time, so don't forget to advance the watch an hour.
"August: Osage County," at the Fox Theatre through March 14
–Joe