This post was submitted by Ben K.

If you are a theater fan, surely you’ve heard of the famed Chicago theatre company Steppenwolf.  Back in the 1970s, the company began with nine original members, Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, Gary Sinise, H.E. Baccus, Nancy Evans, Moira Harris, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, and Alan Wilder, who would go on to set the groundwork for one of the most successful companies in the country.   Their ensemble today boasts an impressive list of names still, and the reputation of the company is as top-notch as ever.

In June 2007, Steppenwolf gave birth to a play that would go on to rock the theater world.  Ensemble member Tracy Letts‘ August: Osage County, which would go on to a sold-out run, a run on Broadway, a national tour, multiple Tony awards (including Best New Play), and the prestigious Pulitzer for Drama, has ensured that Steppenwolf’s name will burn bright across the theater world for years to come.

As a Chicagoan, believe that I am still kicking myself over not seeing August on Steppenwolf’s stage back in 2007.   Instead, I had to endure the long wait to see it return to Chicago, in a much larger venue, on its national tour.

And all I can say is Wow.

August: Osage County is a great theater-going experience, there’s just no other way to say it.  It’s brutal, hilarious, deeply sad, smart, brash, nasty, and bold.  Enough adjectives for you?  I can come up with a million more and still not cover it.

Here’s the basic story- it’s August in Osage County (duh), Oklahoma.  The patriarch of the Weston family has gone missing- prompting the return home of his three daughters, where their mother Violet is waiting.  And Violet is quite the character- a pill-popping, manipulative woman, who may be the mother of all nasty mothers in fictional history.

With three acts, two intermissions, and clocking in at three-and-a-half hours this is a tour-de-force of the stage, without a boring moment in it.  Straddling the line between soap opera trash and brilliant theater, August is not only cerebral but vastly entertaining and fun.  This is a piece without a hint of subtlety, all laid out bare for you.

You think your family dinners are rough?  You’ve got nothing on the Westons.  The dinner scene that closes Act II weaves from amusingly funny to bitterly dangerous in mere moments, keeping you on the edge of your seat as you wait for the explosion of intensity that closes out the act.  You’ve been with these people for two hours now, and trust me, you’ll not be able to wait for the intermission to be over.

As Violet, Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons (you may know her as Roseanne and Jackie’s mom on Roseanne) puts in a performance like you wouldn’t believe.   You’ll feel bad about ever complaining about going to the gym after you watch the 82-year old spend the length of the play running up and down the stairs of the three-story set launching out some of the most entertaining, awful, vile dialogue you’ve seen on the stage.

As eldest daughter Barbara, Shannon Cochran matches Parsons intensity and humor throughout, going toe to toe with her at every step.  Together, with an ensemble cast of worthy performances, Parsons and Cochran add the punch that knocks this play out of the park.

August: Osage County is about the most fulfilling time I’ve had watching a play that I can remember.  For those of you in St. Louis, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Boston, the tour is still coming your way.  Go- this is a theater experience you won’t want to miss.  I can only hope for the rest of you that you get a chance to see the play one day- it’s already become part of the great American theatrical cannon, so I’ll bet on you being able to see a production of it in the near future.

Go to www.augustonbroadway.com to learn more about the play, and to find out tour information.  It also contains video clips.  Watch the short clip below for a little taste of this extraordinary theatrical experience.

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