Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre opened its season last week with a brief run of "August: Osage County" by Tulsa-born, Durant-reared Tracy Letts. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, you really saw something.
This work is to actors what a Paganini violin concerto is to violinists: If you have the chops to hack it, you surely can show off.
The play's gargantuan reputation preceded it. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Tony for Best play, "August: Osage County" has been hailed by some critics as one of the great American plays, and they get no argument from me.
So how could the CityRep production stand up to the hype? Let's put it this way: It stood up.
Set in a large country home outside Pawhuska in 2007, "August" concerns the extended Weston clan. The disappearance of patriarch Beverly Weston (Michael Jones) brings the family together under trying circumstances. (One senses any Weston gathering would be trying circumstances.)
Directed by Ren
This work is to actors what a Paganini violin concerto is to violinists: If you have the chops to hack it, you surely can show off.
The play's gargantuan reputation preceded it. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Tony for Best play, "August: Osage County" has been hailed by some critics as one of the great American plays, and they get no argument from me.
So how could the CityRep production stand up to the hype? Let's put it this way: It stood up.
Set in a large country home outside Pawhuska in 2007, "August" concerns the extended Weston clan. The disappearance of patriarch Beverly Weston (Michael Jones) brings the family together under trying circumstances. (One senses any Weston gathering would be trying circumstances.)
Directed by Ren
