August Osage County Play Summary

Sunday, October 23rd was opening night for Capital Stages' production of August: Osage County. In short, the play is about a dysfunctional family brought back together due to the untimely suicide of Beverly, the family's patriarch. Beverly's wife, Violet, and their three daughters are left to deal with the aftermath of his death while also dealing with their own issues and relationships. The play is full of chaos and is ultimately a dark comedy. The execution of the play was amazing, I felt completely enthralled and invested in the characters lives. August: Osage County opens with Beverly Weston hiring a young girl, Johnna, to live and work in their home taking care of the household chores. He then commits suicide by drowning. This throws all of the other characters out of their hectic lives and brings them all together to intertwine their chaos with one another. Beverly's wife, Violet is addicted to prescription pills; and, at times, she does not hide it very well at all. The first to arrive at the house to comfort mourning Violet is one of her daughters, Ivy. We later come to fins out that Ivy is having a secret affair with her cousin, "Little Charles," who turns out to actually be her
Capital Stage is a very small and intimate theatre that puts the audience right in front of the action. In fact, the front row is actually on the same platform as the stage and to get to most seats, one must actually walk across the stage. I had never been to a production with a stage like that; it was definitely a new and different experience for me. Even so, I really liked the concept of having the audience almost a part of the stage. I believe it allowed the audience to feel closer to the actors and made the production seem more real by not having it far away or up higher on a stage. It allows the audience in and almost allows the audience to get swept up into the magic of the