Do not miss August:
Osage County which is now playing at the Young Centre.
Near the end of August: Osage County, Barbara
recalls her poet father saying to her “You know, this country was always pretty
much a whorehouse, but at least it used to have some promise. Now it’s just a
shithole.” It was a cogent description
of the United States a dozen years ago when Tracy Letts’ play was first
produced and it is even more apt today.
The play tells the story of a large, dysfunctional family from Oklahoma
but it also points to the dysfunctional families of other American playwrights
and reaches back to the fountainhead of such relations in The Royal House of
Thebes and The House of Atreus.
Without mincing words, August: Osage County, is a
masterpiece. It has a skillfully constructed plot, superbly drawn characters
and is full of drama and humour that hold you in thrall from beginning to end.
Maev Beaty and Nancy Palk. Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann
Soulpepper’s production, directed exquisitely by Jackie Maxwell takes
all the virtues of the play, puts them in the hands of an outstanding cast and
the result is simply great theatre.
The play opens with Beverly Weston (Diego Matamoros), a drunk,
disillusioned poet quoting T. S. Eliot as he interviews Johnna (Samantha
Brown), a Native American for the job as a maid. Matamoros gives a superb
performance in his brief appearance and then he commits suicide. His large
family gathers in the big, rambling house for his funeral and the stage is set
for the searing drama, the incredible revelations, the huge arguments and the
great humour of the play.
The play is dominated by two women. There is Violet Weston (Nancy Palk),
Beverly’s wife, a bitter, vicious, half-crazed woman who takes countless pills,
drinks too much and at times forms words with difficulty. Palk, thin,
half-crouched, delivers a bravura performance that should define her long
career in the theatre. Her physical movements and vocal intonations, her furor
and her pain add up to a tour de force of acting.
Her daughter Barbara (Maev Beaty) is made of the same material even
though she initially appears different. Beaty gives a magnificent performance
as a woman of great strength and a person who understands her deep flaws. She
can get a huge laugh with a single word and grab the situation with a short
phrase. Nothing but superlatives for her performance.
Beverly and Violet have two other daughters. The flighty Karen, played
superbly by Raquel Duffy and the troubled Ivy played with great skill by
Michelle Monteith.
The rest of the exceptional cast deserve kudos. Oliver Dennis plays the
hen-pecked but decent husband of Mattie Fae (Laurie Paton) until he finds the
strength to stand up to her. Mattie Fae has a secret that connects to Oedipus
Rex but I will not spoil it for you. Her son “Little” Charles (Gregory
Prest) is a sympathetic loser.
The set by Camellia Koo represents several sides of the Weston house on
a revolving stage. At first we see the two-story interior of the house with two
stair-cases. The stage revolves and we see the dining room. Beautifully done.
Much of the credit for the extraordinary production belongs to the
expertise of Jackie Maxwell. She orchestrates every action and reaction by the
actors, manages every intonation and move and the result is theatre at its
best.
Do not miss August: Osage County.
_________
August: Osage County by Tracy Letts opened on May 24 and will run until
June 23, 2019 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Tank House Lane, Toronto,
Ontario, M5A 3C4. www.soulpepper.ca.
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