Run
– don’t walk – to the Curran Theatre in San Francisco for an
unusual experience in the finest in dramatic theatre ever to come
the West Coast. Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and five-time Tony
Award winner
”
August: Osage County
”
is an offering in the ultimate of writing, directing, acting,
set designing and anything else that has to do with this
production.
Run – don’t walk – to the Curran Theatre in San Francisco for an unusual experience in the finest in dramatic theatre ever to come the West Coast. Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and five-time Tony Award winner “August: Osage County” is an offering in the ultimate of writing, directing, acting, set designing and anything else that has to do with this production. The audience still can’t get enough, even after 3 1/2 hours of this wrenching tragicomedy.
“August” premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 2007 and has gone on to acclaimed productions in London and on Broadway. Nothing has been spared in this touring company. The production is as close to the Broadway presentation as possible.
The plot makes soap operas look like fairytales. There is everything from adultery, suicide, pedophilia, incest, drug abuse, child abuse and just about anything else you can think of that’s off the charts.
The Weston clan reluctantly gathers at their mother’s house to assist in a crisis and perhaps receive what may be left to them in a questionable will.
Letts’ superb dialogue is dispersed like shooting rapids over sharp boulders that end in a hopeless raging waterfall where there is no return.
Anna D. Shapiro directs like a gifted brain surgeon operating with meticulous accuracy. She brings the impossible together with such delicate accuracy that each scene is inspired, and the audience doesn’t dare blink for fear of missing a moment of the experience.
Eighty one-year-old Estelle Parsons is truly amazing as Violet, the ignominious, vicious, foul-mouthed, drugged up Medea, mother of this dysfunctional family on heavy steroids. Her performance is a piece of acting that is a gift to whoever has the privilege to see it.
This 13-member ensemble is flawless and each of these damaged characters bring moments that touch the audience in realistic ways – whether revolting or humorous.
Todd Rosenthal’s three-level set with a staircase that Parsons trundles up and down becomes an integral part of the play. A scene at the dining room table where the family sits for dinner is a moment in theatre so unique and edgy, you become involved as you have never been before. You become more than an observer. There is a feeling of being a part of this snake pit of characters.
This is definitely an adult production and experience. Perhaps once in a lifetime, if you enjoy great theatre, take this journey. You will be rewarded with theatre at its ultimate.
***
‘August: Osage County’
Where: Curran Theatre,
445 Geary St., San Francisco
Through: Sept. 6
Tickets: $35-$80
Details: 1 (877) 797-7827, visit www.shnsf.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
