August: Osage County -- by Tracy Letts (2008)

Description
I was most excited to read August: Osage County out of all the plays in this project. The title itself was intriguing. The accolades it received from the Tony Awards was notable. The actors involved in the film version were all megastars. What was the buzz all about?

The buzz is about the jaw-dropping dysfunction of the venomous Weston family.

The three act play begins with a prologue wherein the patriarch, Beverly Weston, confesses his alcoholism and his wife's drug addiction. His wife, the ultra-imposing Violet Weston, suffers from oral cancer. At the start of the play, Beverly abandons Violet. Therefore, all of their daughters return to figure out where Beverly went and to take care of their mother who is completely spiraling out of control.

The daughters include Ivy, the shy, youngest and only daughter who has stayed near the parents to look out for them; Karen, the daughter who has escaped to Miami, adopted an out-of-the-Weston norm positive attitude, and is engaged to the eventually despicable Steve; and Barbara, the daughter who has the most dynamic relationship with their mother and is recently estranged from Bill who is having an affair with a young student of his.

These three daughters all have been hurt by the painful remarks of their mother. Another family member who returns to the Weston household during the loss of Beverly is Mattie Fae, Violet's humorous and bruising sister. Mattie is married to Charles. They have parented Little Charles, a "deadbeat" son who has a secret relationship with Ivy. Yeah, Letts goes there. Mattie, Charles, and Little Charles visit. The final visitor is Jean, the rebellious, angsty teenage daughter of Bill and Barbara.

A few essential minor characters include a police officer and Johnna, the new Weston maid.

I do not want to give spoilers, so I am not even going to attempt a plot summary. The family is an utter mess. Their actions and verbal attacks are difficult to witness.

I will admit the first two acts were so gruesome, I was disappointed. The third act, however, tied everything together, although not into a pretty, uplifting resolution. 

The play won Best Play at the Tony Awards and swept the female acting categories.

Don't let the laughter in this clip from the original production fool you.

Candid Reactions

• The similarities to A Long Day's Journey into Night are instantly apparent from the set design. 
• Beverly's worldview is so negative from the start. 
• I feel uncomfortable and this is just the Prologue. What have I gotten myself into?
• Okay, so abandonment is going to be a clear thematic topic. 
• Their blunt communication is remarkable. 
• Nice use of humor at the top of the first scene to give the audience some much needed promise of occasional light moments. 
• Violet and Mattie are so rude to their children. 
• Good question, Violet: "Is anyone supposed to smoke?" (27)
• The double entendre in Bill's line, "I haven't encouraged anything" (28) is clever. 
• The staircase is a prominent feature in the house. 
• Okay, so another main topics must be truth and reality. 
• Violet tells one of her daughters, "[Beverly] just told me he's disappointed in you because you settled" (39). Yeah, thanks for that! 
• That was an awkward interaction between Johnna and Jean. 
• Barbara has a lot of her mother in her. Her attack on Bill is both empowering and terrifying. Narcissism is another major topic introduced here. 
• What an eery question: "How does a person jump in the water and choose not to swim?" (53). 
• The end of Act One honestly scared me. 
• I am always fascinated and intrigued about set changes. How does the stage manager quickly clean an untidy house? 
• The forms of narcissism shown are intriguing. 
• The concept of "here and now" is developed nicely. 
• Now Jean is abandoned. More theme development. 
• Barbara has some of the most powerful, effective lines. For example, "I'm sick of the whole notion of the enduring female. GROW UP! 'Cause while you're going through your fifth puberty, the world is falling apart and I can't handle it!" You tell him, Barbara!
• Oh no. Incest?
• That prayer was so awkward. HA!
• Violet riffs on "Where's the meat?!" (88) Am I reading too far into this to think that she is indirectly commenting on how their lives do not have a lot of "meat" to them-- they live artificial, non-protein lives? 
• The dryness of the humor could cut your skin. 
• Okay, Violet. I get it: your mother was terrible. 
• There are some sneaky parallels in the dialogue. 
• More narcissism. 
• The end of Act Two felt anticlimactic on the page. 
• Ah, yes. Of course the house has gone from being all dark and covered to light and uncovered. Truth surfaces over the course of the play. Classic motif. 
• That Greatest Generation argument was hilarious. 
• Ivy hid her illness. Every family member hides something major from the rest of the family. 
• Letts sneaks in a gem of a line when explaining the relationship Charles and Ivy have. He explains that they have affection because they have understanding. One thing the family lacks as a whole is understanding.
• Violet is THE pessimist. 
• OH CRAP. THAT PLOT TWIST GOT ME GOOD. 
• OH, MATTIE. HOW UNFAIR TO PUT THAT ON BARBARA. 
• NO, STEVE!!!!!
• YES, ALL MY THOUGHTS AT THE END OF THE PLAY WERE IN ALL CAPS. 
• YES, JOHNNA!!!!!!
• NO, BARBARA!!!!!
• How eloquent of you, Barbara: "Dissipation is actually much worse than cataclysm" (124). And that is August: Osage County in a nutshell. 
• Oh, now that was a great callback. 
• Is she going to eat the catfish. 
• I AM SO SORRY, IVY. 
• THE DRAMATIC IRONY OF IT ALL. 
• NO, VIOLET!!!!!
• But Violet is not strong . . . 
• YIKES.  

Top Two Aspects/Reasons for Winning
1. Family and Dysfunction
Many plays focus on family relationships. Many plays examine the intimate, sentimental moments along with the heartbreaking, cold moments. August: Osage County spotlights the violent side of the dysfunctional family along with its humor. Certainly there are several dysfunctional families in the Pulitzer canon, but no other family can outdo the grotesque nature of the Weston family. Letts forces the audience to watch a family that struggles to show compassion and grace in the midst of pain and loss. The family is not dysfunctional because they do not know how to communicate: the family is dysfunctional because they only know how to communicate biting remarks born out of generational hurt.   

2. Truth-telling
Violet demands that truth is told within their family. She models truth-telling, for better or worse. She admits her addictions and she shares her scathing opinions on her daughters' life choices. The Weston family members do not believe that the truth shall set them free. Instead, they believe the some truths must be buried in secrecy and acknowledged only when necessary. Violet's initiation of truth-telling creates a domino effect. The third act includes several revelations that do not liberate the family, but rather further separates the family members.

In so doing, Letts prompts the question: Is all truth good? Should all truth be shared? What power does knowing the truth and sharing the truth have?   

Classroom Implications
Hmmmmm. The drug use, profanity, and incestuous relationships would probably be enough reason to not include this text in a high school curriculum.

If I were to teach this in a college setting, I could easily use it to compare themes and characters with A Long Day's Journey into Night.

Narrative structure could also be dissected, as Letts so masterfully ties everything together in the third act to end the show with a deafening crescendo.

Personal Takeaway
The difference between watching a play and reading a play cannot be emphasized enough.

Ranking

	Dialogue	Characters	Plot/Conflict	Symbol/Literary Devices	Overall Enjoyment	TOTAL SCORE 8.25
0	Unfollowable; unrealistic; diction does not match character	Undeveloped; does not reflect humanity	Not engaging; predictable; reader can step away from text because it isn’t gripping	Devices are apparent for cleverness and do not enhance the story	Reader has no interest in re-reading play
1	Not consistently realistic	Well-developed; most depictions reflect humanity	Semi-engaging; some unnecessary plot-points	Devices somewhat enhance story (1.5)	Reader would re-read with pleasure and reminded of work (1.25)
2	Realistic; connotative; diction matches characters (2)	Fully-developed; depictions reflect humanity (1.75)	Engaging; unique; reader finds it impossible to put down text because the conflict is so gripping! (1.75)	Devices seamlessly enhance the story and provide rich interpretation	Reader would re-read the play on own volition, enthusiastically