CHAMBERSBURG – February may be the shortest month, but in Pennsylvania this period of winter often feels crushingly long. The dreary weather, the cold, the shorter daylight hours. Summer can feel light years away.
In contrast, Chambersburg Community Theatre is offering its audiences an oppressive summer on the Oklahoma plains with the current production of “August: Osage County.” But despite the many references to the heat, the dysfunctional family drama unflinchingly explored throughout the show just as easily connects with any seasonal depression that attendees may be experiencing.
For those unfamiliar, the play was written by Tracy Letts and is classified as a tragi-comedy. It premiered in 2007 at the storied Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Steppenwolf has a decades-long reputation for championing original work of exceptional quality, and “August:Osage County” continues that tradition. It transferred to Broadway in 2008 where it received five Tony Awards, including ‘Best Play.’ It was adapted into a film version in 2013.
Playwright Tracy Letts also won a Pulitzer Prize for the script, which explores the difficult and explosive relationships between multigenerational groups of parents and children as well as multiple sets of romantic partners.
The show takes place over the course of several weeks in the Tulsa home of Beverly and Violet Weston. Due to a family emergency, the house is visited by all three of their daughters, their daughters’ various partners and their only granddaughter. Violet’s younger sister, Mattie Fae, with her husband, Charlie, are also there to add to the full house. Their son eventually makes an appearance as well.
The show hinges on dishing out family secrets, sometimes as slow as molasses and other times like an unexpected pie to the face. Every member of the Weston family and their significant others get dragged into the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) food fight before the production takes its bows.
In the first scene Beverly Weston quotes T.S. Elliot by saying “Life is very long” and, full disclosure, so is this play. The CCT performance of this modern classic clocks in at over three hours with two intermissions. Though the length may seem challenging, the payoff is worth the investment – particularly for those who enjoy their entertainment with twists, turns and disquieting reveals throughout.
The production is staged at the downtown Capital Theatre’s Wood Center. This multifunctional space in the upper levels of the complex allows for flexibility in seating and gives room for the simple representational set, designed by Tom Davis and Aaron Trusky, to spread out. Having the audience closer to the action is a big assist given the lengthy run time. It allows the viewer to feel more connected and integrated into the action.
The seating is a modified thrust, with audiences on two sides of a rectangular performance area sporting a large central dining room table. A couple of sofa and chair seating groups, a desk and two platform units are arranged around the table in a loose family home floor plan. Other than a TV, a record player and some books on the desk there is little in the way of set dressing.
As you arrive in the space, you might suspect the crew (which also includes Production Assistant Moira McClung) forgot to pull down some plastic after painting the single wall, but you soon learn this is intentional. As intentional as the full-to-the-brim whiskey glass on the desk. While the dining table may recall Norman Rockwell, the plastic bags and booze hint at something more melancholy.
Lighting designer Chance Reacher works well with the few fixtures available. Scenes are visible, and hints of color help establish mood and time of day. He does a particularly thoughtful job using lack of light to cover what could be a difficult moment for the audience to process late in the show.
The restrained blocking from director AimeeBeth Davis puts the dialogue front and center. A few moments of important action are handled adroitly and satisfyingly, but mainly the actors are in place physically, leaving their brains and mouths to do the majority of the moving.
The script for the show is fast paced and packed with continual revelations. The weight of this award-winning text does occasionally prove a bit too much for the performers to hold. Several performers were using printed sides to stay on top of the dialogue during the press preview.
This is always a difficult choice to make but, given the complexity of the dialogue and the need for the audience to understand the continuous onslaught of family drama, it was ultimately better to receive the text as written, than for the actors to worry they might miss a line and inadvertently not mention information that ties to a later plot point.
As a community theater group CCT actors are juggling full-time jobs, families and a myriad of other commitments. The company should be commended for tackling such a complicated and nuanced work, and any accommodations needed can be easily forgiven. Additionally, a program note about the importance of understudies had me wondering exactly how long various cast members had been with the production prior to opening night?
Bill (John Bewley) and Barbara Fordham (Amanda Cook) confront the family matriarch, Violet Weston (Caitlin Cutright.) Photo Credit: Brandon Tillman
Speaking of the actors – two absolute standouts in the cast are Sally Herritt and Gary Brett as Aunt Mattie Fae and Uncle Charlie. Their comedic timing as individual characters and a long-time married couple makes every scene they inhabit a winner. They both handle their more dramatic moments with a naturalism that tugs the heartstrings.
Equally adept is CCT Managing Director M.F. Levine as their son, Little Charles. Levine’s physicality and facial expression perfectly capture the internal struggles of this black sheep character. Little Charles is endearingly awkward, and you can’t help but root for him to survive the family unscathed. (He is particularly sweet while performing some original music by David Singer.)
Sally Herritt’s real life husband, Gene, appears as patriarch Beverly Weston. He brings just the right mix of academic pompousness and self deprecation to a small but vital role. Beverly is the father of three daughters and husband of Violet.
As Violet, actress Caitlin Cutright is all rambling vitriol. With her ever-present cigarette and line delivery that seesaws between an aggressive hiss and raging rant, she is a mother to dread. Lett’s writing gives Violet more passive aggressive criticism toward her offspring than even the most devoted daughter could tolerate.
Courtney Burkholder plays Ivy, the most contained of Violet’s trio of girls. Burkholder provides an excellent buttoned-up counterpoint to her flighty younger sister, Karen, and more emotive sister, Barbara. When Ivy finally does let loose, her own Weston temper goes on full display with entertaining violence.
Burkholder also pulls double duty as the company’s Costume Designer. In that role she likely spent most of her time sourcing various pajama, robe and slipper combinations – all of which work beautifully.
Ivy’s sister, and the youngest daughter, Karen Weston (Abby Hailey-Watson) is the least seen of Beverly and Violet’s children. She appears in the second half of the show, and her rambling monologue about her life in Florida as she rolls silverware is enjoyable character work as well as a welcome breather for the audience after the emotionally fraught scenes closing the first act.
Part of that Florida life is Karen’s slick “businessman” fiance, Steve Heidebrecht. Joshua Naderi’s work as Steve will likely tempt you to leave your seat and give him a solid kick. Actors often enjoy playing characters that are entirely unpleasant, and Naderi certainly embraces his chance to exude maximum sliminess.
Barbara is the final sister of the family, and it’s really on her many relationships that the play continuously pivots. A crucial one is with her husband, Bill Fordham, who is an academic like her father. You don’t need to be Freud to know there is probably something deeper to explore there.
John Bewley manages to make Bill seem fairly sympathetic, even as we question some of his current life choices. Bewley’s nuanced portrayal reminds the audience real life is rarely black and white. As Bill, he aptly demonstrates a clear affection for wife Barbara and daughter Jean, while simultaneously indulging in self-serving behavior that is hard to swallow.
As Barbara, Amanda Cook deserves a special commendation. In addition to doing the lion’s share of the speaking throughout the play, Barbara is subjected to just about every emotion you could imagine over the span of the action. Cook paces herself well and manages to avoid becoming one note in a role that could easily devolve into shrillness by the second act. Like Barbara herself, Cook manages to bear the weight of something overwhelming even as the audience wonders how many more helpings can be piled on her already heaping plate.
A particular pleasure are the scenes that Cook shares with her own daughter, Brenna Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth’s “method” casting as Barbara’s teenage progeny, Jean, pays dividends throughout the show. For a young performer she demonstrates admirable nuance in the role. However, knowing she is talking to (or yelling at) her actual mother in the instances where Jean’s hormonal angst comes roaring out, makes those interactions even more relatable and entertaining.
Both actors are pros, however, and you won’t find them breaking character. (No matter how much I suspect some snarky lines in the play MAY have happened OFF stage at some point.)
It’s not just her mother who benefits from Hollingsworth’s solid execution. Rachel Hovis as Johnna Monevata has a chance to shine alongside her young co-star in an engaging scene set in the attic. Johanna is a recent addition to the Weston household, hired by Beverly to be the live-in housekeeper. Hovis handles this mostly silent presence with thoughtfulness and heart.
Also wonderfully contained in the smaller role of Sheriff Dion is Krista Macaluso. Like the sheriff she portrays, she quietly and confidently does her job of creating an outsider that is a calm foil to the utter insanity of the Weston clan.
If keeping track of the tangled relationships of the Weston family throughout this review has made your head spin, you can trust that Tracy Lett’s script, competently handled by the CCT ensemble, will serve them up in a way that is easier to digest. Perhaps it’s no surprise they need a bit of extra time to do it.
Taking a chance on a local arts organization has never been more needed than in our current climate. Community arts programs help neighbors understand one another better and build bonds that pay dividends in many undefinable ways. So if you are on the fence, try a helping of CCT’s “August: Osage County.” It will give you plenty to talk about over your own dinner table!
CCT presents “August: Osage County” Friday, Feb. 20 at 7pm, Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1pm and 7pm, and Sunday Feb. 22 at 2pm.
Tickets are available at https://cctonline.org/shows-tickets/
Tickets are: $25 adults, $20 for seniors (65+), $15 for children (12 and under)
Content Warning: The play contains strong language and mature themes including sexual assault and suicide. The movie version is rated R. Families are encouraged to do research to make an informed individual decision about the appropriate age for attendees.
UP NEXT at CCT:
“Adventures of a Comic Book Artist” March 20 – 22
Step into a magical realm with “Adventures of a Comic Book Artist,” where vibrant action leaps off the page and into our world! This children’s musical, uniquely crafted by kids for kids, promises an awe-inspiring journey fueled by creativity and the limitless power of imagination.
Want to get involved or donate? Visit CCT’s website at https://cctonline.org/getinvolved/ for information on joining the production team, auditions and educational offerings.
