August: Osage County
Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by Jackson Gay
Where: Thompson Theatre at the Roselle Center for the Arts
(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)
When: Sunday, September 29
Photo by Evan Krape
The University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players opens up their 2019-20 season with a fantastic production of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County. I saw this play back in 2010 at the somewhat large Forrest Theater in Philadelphia as part of its national touring company and my review shows that I was actually pretty disenchanted with the piece, finding it over-the-top and not worthy of the numerous awards that were heaped upon it.
Perhaps being removed from the hype mellowed me or maybe it was the more intimate theater at the REP or maybe it was simply that the REP ensemble does a fantastic job interpreting the piece -- whatever the difference (or the combination of all of them), this version of August: Osage County gave me a better appreciation for the darkly comic, warped, yet realistic family soap opera at its (lengthy three hour-and-twenty-minute) center. The REP's Kathleen Pirkl Tague's acerbic matriarch Violet Weston is certainly the centerpiece of the story, but kudos must also be given to the REP's Elizabeth Heflin as Violet's daughter Barbara for being a nice levelheaded counterpoint. It's great to see these two veteran REP members play off of each other with Letts' witty banter. Guest actors Izabel Mar, Karen Alvarado, Bridget Flanery, and particularly the absolutely hilarious Angela Iannone (who conjures up a perfect mix of Cloris Leachman and Vicki Lawrence's Mama from Mama's Family) add much depth to the piece. Notice that I've only mentioned women -- this is a strongly female-driven piece and although I certainly have nothing negative to say about the men in the ensemble, they're left in the dust here by the very nature of Letts' work.
Excellent work, as always, on the design front from the REP with a particular shout-out to scenic designer Brittany Vasta's three-story set which towers over the Weston family much like their family secrets always hover over them weighing them down. Overall, a great start to the REP season and congratulations on giving this reviewer a different perspective on a play he thought he didn't like.
Excellent work, as always, on the design front from the REP with a particular shout-out to scenic designer Brittany Vasta's three-story set which towers over the Weston family much like their family secrets always hover over them weighing them down. Overall, a great start to the REP season and congratulations on giving this reviewer a different perspective on a play he thought he didn't like.
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