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Overview

Winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play, Tracy Letts' darkly comic epic offers a painfully funny look at a family struggling in the desolate heart of America.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording, featuring members of the original Steppenwolf Theatre and Broadway productions: Tara Lynne Barr, Shannon Cochran, Deanna Dunagan (Tony Award®, Best Leading Actress), Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Scott Jaeck, Ron Livingston, Robert Maffia, Mariann Mayberry, Rondi Reed (Tony Award®, Best Featured Actress), and David Warshofsky.

Directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Recorded by L.A. Thetare Works before a live audience.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

02/02/2015
With a keen ear for the Southern drawl, this sharply written play gets a stellar presentation by L.A. Theatre Works. Set over the course of several weeks, the play follows the Weston family as they are pulled back to their Oklahoma homestead in the wake of a tragedy. With uncontrolled ferocity, this dysfunctional family proceeds to bicker and battle, belittle and besmirch each other with every emotional weapon in their considerable armory. At its heart is Momma Violet, played to shrewish perfection by Deanna Dunagan: her drug-induced, nonstop vitriolic pronouncements and revelations are alternately painful and hilarious in their delivery, and the reactions and interactions of the excellent cast are just as well developed and delivered. Robert Pine, as patriarch Beverly Weston, practically steals the show in the opening scene—which is a touching and laugh-out-loud performance, perfectly delivered and totally indicative of the richly textured performances of the tragic comedy that follows. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

This fusion of epic tragedy and black comedy is a bold step for Letts, whose earthy, distinctly contemporary wit flows throughout. His account of a family whose secrets and lies come spilling forth under duress ranks with the best American drama of the past decade.” –Elysa Gardner, USA Today

“In Tracy Letts’s ferociously entertaining play, the American dysfunctional family drama comes roaring into the twenty-first century with eyes blazing, nostrils flaring and fangs bared, laced with corrosive humor so darkly delicious and ghastly that you’re squirming in your seat even as you’re doubled over laughing. A massive meditation on the cruel realities that often belie standard expectations of conjugal and family accord—not to mention on the decline of American integrity itself.” –David Rooney, Variety

August will cement Letts’s place in theatrical history. He has written a Great American Play. How many of those will we get the chance to discover in our lifetime?” –Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly

“Packed with unforgettable characters and dozens of quotable lines, August: Osage County is a tensely satisfying comedy, interspersed with remarkable evocations on the cruelties and (occasional) kindnesses of family life. It is as harrowing a new work as Broadway has offered in years and the funniest in even longer.” –Eric Gorde, New York Sun




“This fusion of epic tragedy and black comedy is a bold step for Letts, whose earthy, distinctly contemporary wit flows throughout. His account of a family whose secrets and lies come spilling forth under duress ranks with the best American drama of the past decade.” –Elysa Gardner, USA Today

“In Tracy Letts’s ferociously entertaining play, the American dysfunctional family drama comes roaring into the twenty-first century with eyes blazing, nostrils flaring and fangs bared, laced with corrosive humor so darkly delicious and ghastly that you’re squirming in your seat even as you’re doubled over laughing. A massive meditation on the cruel realities that often belie standard expectations of conjugal and family accord—not to mention on the decline of American integrity itself.” –David Rooney, Variety

August will cement Letts’s place in theatrical history. He has written a Great American Play. How many of those will we get the chance to discover in our lifetime?” –Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly

“Packed with unforgettable characters and dozens of quotable lines, August: Osage County is a tensely satisfying comedy, interspersed with remarkable evocations on the cruelties and (occasional) kindnesses of family life. It is as harrowing a new work as Broadway has offered in years and the funniest in even longer.” –Eric Gorde, New York Sun

Library Journal - Audio

★ 02/15/2015
Letts's razor-sharp tragicomedy was the winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama that same year. This full-cast production was recorded before a live audience and features members of the premier cast from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre as well as members of the Broadway production including Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed. Set over the course of several sweltering August weeks at the Pawhuska, OK, home of Beverly and Violet Weston, the play depicts a family that is dysfunctional almost beyond belief. Substance abuse, incest, and suicide are just a few of the issues facing the Westons. When patriarch Beverly, a somewhat famous poet who could never finish his second book, goes missing, the Weston children and their families reluctantly trudge home to support Beverly's prescription drug-addicted, cancer-stricken wife, Violet. VERDICT All libraries collecting dramatic productions will likely want this tightly constructed, bitingly funny dark comedy, but should note the caveat that it features very mature themes and much profanity.—Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib.

JANUARY 2015 - AudioFile

When the patriarch of a rural Oklahoma clan goes missing, his three adult daughters and their families gather round to support their mother, who is addicted to prescription painkillers. In doing so, they dredge up all kinds of mischief from the past and present. Drawing from the original 2008 Tony Award-winning cast—including Deanna Dunagan (Best Leading Actress), Jeff Perry (from TV’s “Scandal”), and Steppenwolf Theatre favorite Rondi Reed—this live-performance audio adaptation combines the intensity of Tennessee Williams with the pace and timing of the best in television comedy. The audience laughter is real and heartfelt as the cast members find the humor and nuance in every taboo subject—from drugs to adultery to divorce. Outrageously funny, foul (adult language), and touching. B.P. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940172057045
Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works
Publication date: 10/15/2014
Edition description: Unabridged
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