CRITIC’S PICK
Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County has already successfully solidified itself into the theatrical canon as a modern classic, acting as a poignant window into the violence — both physical and emotional — that family members can commit against one another.
The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s nearly three-and-a-half-hour production of Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play bares it all. August: Osage County follows the tenuous reunion of the Weston family as they rally around matriarch, Violet, in the wake of their father Beverly’s disappearance.
Both Violet and her husband struggle with unaddressed substance abuse problems: Beverly with alcohol and Violet with prescription pills. In an attempt to get away from it all, Beverly has been known to skip town on occasion. But, in this instance, something feels different. What is usually a two-to-three day getaway has prolonged into five, and in his absence he has left newly hired home assistant, Johnna, to see that the house runs smoothly.
And so the estranged Weston sisters — Barbara, Ivy and Karen — return to their childhood home, along with their respective families, to support their distraught and unstable mother as they await news of Beverly’s whereabouts.
But the Weston family is light on support and heavy on disdain. Disdain for their father’s abandonment. Disdain for their mother’s addictions and her erratic behavior. And disdain for each other — both for their successes and their failures.
In short, the Westons are a family. Though they wade through a lifetime of resentment, they’re still present to lend a hand or bat away the haze of umbrage that fogs their interactions to reminisce fondly or crack dark jokes.
This ensemble show, directed by producing artistic director Brian Isaac Phillips, never drags and certainly never falls prey to the propensity the subject matter has for pure despair. Instead, each cast member shines in their own neurotic, damaged way. Perhaps most impressive of all, each actor expertly maneuvers the tense atmosphere like the perfect game of chess. While some characters shift to the foreground for their moments, others maintain the necessary background energy to keep the production moving.
Leslie Brott plays the quick-witted and mean-spirited Violet with the fluid energy of a snake — content to slither around the house in a drug-fueled haze, but sharp enough to strike at her family members with venomous contempt.
Meanwhile, Corinne Mohlenhoff Phillips brings a firm determination for sanity to Violet’s filial counterpart, Barbara, who shares her mother’s genetic predisposition for dry wit and a dark outlook on life. As the play progresses, we begin to see the erratic cracks in her steadiness.
Kelly Mengelkoch and Maggie Lou Rader round out the Weston women with crushed timidity and vibrant optimism, respectively. Truly, August: Osage County is a production in which every actor is due their own section, if space were not an issue.
Another unique aspect to the production is its approach to the sense of time. The family dryly remarks that the household does not strictly adhere to the constraints of day vs. night: As Violet has inexplicably duct-taped the curtains shut, the only indication of time comes from lighting cues.
Scenic designer Shannon Moore and lighting designer Justen N. Locke use this quirk to their artistic advantage. Lighting cues fade seamlessly from one part of the set to another, effortlessly shifting the audience’s focus at the proper times.
The use of a beautiful cyclorama is another unique way Locke uses lighting to indicate time of day. A beautiful watercolor palette made solely from light projects onto the backdrop of the set, shifting from dawn to dusk as the days drone on.
In his curtain speech, Phillips said that August: Osage County is a show that people should see. And it’s true. Though the play is certainly a devastating marathon of both familial and personal tragedy, there is a brutal and raw honesty to this modern portrayal of family life. It’s complex, emotional, painful and certainly never cut and dry. Though heavy on the darker aspects of life, it is incredibly moving in a way most plays or movies don’t spend the time to reach.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s August: Osage County runs through Sept. 28. More info/tickets: cincyshakes.com
This article appears in Sep 4-11, 2019.