August: Osage County

"This Madhouse is my HOME!" Tracy Letts- August:Osage County

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. But that does not make a thing less than good.Tonight was a preview of August: Osage County and as is the case with many preview performances the audience had been "papered" which means that many folks had been comped (yours truly included) for at least two good reasons- 1- so that the critics did not view the play in an empty theater and 2- to create buzz.

So here is some buzz. Like bright, bubbly musicals with a happy Disney ending? Enjoy a play that sends you off humming some inane melody that you cannot remember the words to and commenting on the scenery, costumes and how quickly 90 minutes flies by in a Broadway theater? Go see Mary Poppins. This is not the play for you. The new Steppenwolf import by Tracy Letts clocks in at over three hours and three acts. And, as you know- I have been burning the candle on ends not yet invented. Fortunately the concession had a fantastic innovation- the espresso machine.

Drug addiction, family strife, a teenaged pot smoking lolita, and incest have never been funnier. Letts delivers his real life punch inside a fluffy moon pie and takes you places you would never expect. I have been moved by theater- cried, laughed, sighed and waxed nostalgic but this is the first time a play made me speak out loud (I normally loathe people who talk during the play) "Oh no, she didn't." At one point in the third act I actually blurted out "WHAT!" and heard the director (who was sitting behind me taking notes) snort with laughter and a bit of smug glee that the truth had been revealed with absolutely no clue where this particular story line led.

So once again, I am short on sleep. But as a character in the play said- "You're almost FIFTY years old- you can't go to New York- you'll break a hip!"

Some things are worth risking hopping down Broadway on crutches.

:)X