Tracy Letts' powerful new play, August: Osage County, is a shattering three-and-a-half-hour piece of rural drama. But we might have suspected this from his other plays. Letts shatters, and the intricate family melodies in contrapuntal dysfunctional clashings at this family get-together in Oklahoma, is a wonderfully-directed (by Anna D. Shapiro) slice of twisted life with a super ensemble cast. Letts is smart -- it comes through in his writing, and Shapiro brings out all possible humor in this drama in which almost every character has a bend (or a rip) in his or her psyche.
Deanna Dunagan's performance as the crazy drug-addicted mother is amazing, with a combination of emotional depth and the physicality of an athlete, including a drunk/stoned stagger which alone should get her a Tony nomination. And Amy Morton, whose strong presence becomes the central protagonist, gives a towering performance. But there is not a weak link in the thirteen member splendid cast as they play on Todd Rosenthal's resourceful, three-level set in Ana Kuzmanic's appropriate costumes, well lighted by Ann G. Wrightson. There is a unity in this company that can come only from a group that works together regularly, and this Steppenwolf bunch from Chicago is indeed what an ensemble should be.
The play is long, but the evening is not; both the writing and the acting will hold you.
