Really, there isn't much to add to the chorus of unanimous praise Tracy Letts' play has received. Yes, 3:45 minutes in the theater moves like time is flying by. Yes, you laugh. Hard. Yes, the direction of this show by Anna Shapiro is extraordinary. This is great theater.
Two shows this season left me literally catching my breath: Passing Strange and August: Osage County. The possibility that a play might be so good that I forget to breathe is what keeps me going to the theater. A lot. Whenever I can. And this is after experiencing Welcome to the Club all those years ago. Two have had two such breath-taking experiences in one season is a first, and it gives me great hope.
The August replacement cast, led triumphantly by Estelle Parsons, honor this amazing work. Not a line is wasted, not a moment is misused. Parsons is harsh, unforgiving and not a little crazy. Amy Morton, as daughter Barbara, is beautiful and frightening as she becomes her mother. I also thought that understudy Dee Pelletier gave a truly riveting performance as Ivy. But these performances were simply the rising tide that allowed everyone in the cast to give the most memorable of performances.
August: Osage County is, in the end, a show of dichotomies. We love these characters as much as they disgust us. We laugh hard (honest laughs) as we gasp at the gravity of the pain these characters inflict on each other. We're energized even as we endure.
Now go hug your mother
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