Tracy Letts’ 2008 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning dramedy “August: Osage County” is a monster of a tale. Not only does the three-hour play require 13 actors and a three-story house scenic design, it’s also a high-tension story about a dysfunctional family who behave monstrously towards one another.
The play made its San Diego premiere in 2011 in a lavish and superbly-cast production at the Old Globe. But no local theater company has attempted it since. So my hat’s off to Backyard Renaissance Theatre, a small but always ambitious company that opened a new production of “August” on Saturday at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center in East Village. American theaters have struggled to recover their audiences post-pandemic, so most are producing lighthearted shows with affordably small casts. But Backyard is betting big that audiences will turn out to see this grand play done right in an eerie and visceral production.
Maggie Carney and Jacob Bruce co-star in Backyard Renaissance Theatre’s “August: Osage County.”
(Courtesy o9f Pine & Pebble Photography)
Set in the small town of Pawhuska, Okla., on Osage Indian lands, “August” is about a troubled family who have gathered for the funeral of patriarch Beverly Weston, a hard-drinking poetry lover who has drowned himself. Over the course of one weekend, the family struggles with issues of drug abuse, extramarital affairs, physical and emotional abuse, molestation, racism, incest and more. This may not sound like a barrel of laughs, but Letts’ script has a deep comic vein and director Francis Gercke has found the story’s funny, tender, uplifting and creepy moments.
Robert Smyth has just one scene in the play’s opening minutes as Beverly, the retired professor quietly plotting his own demise. But he ably sets the tone for the evening with a gentle, endearing and wryly amusing performance. Smyth’s real-life wife, Deborah Gilmour Smyth, plays Beverly’s opiate-addicted and cancer-stricken wife, Violet, who is vicious toward her children, manipulative, cold, greedy and frequently adrift in an incoherent drug-induced haze. It’s a high-wire act to play, but Gilmour Smyth does a fine job balancing the emotions of this bizarre train-wreck of a character.
Other standouts in the cast are the hilarious Maggie Carney as Violet’s cruel sister, Mattie Fae, and Jacob Bruce as her emotionally checked-out husband, Charlie. Jessica John is brittle and fiery as Barbara, the Weston’s eldest daughter; Megan Carmitchel has a wounded-bird softness as people-pleasing middle child Ivy; and as youngest daughter Karen, Kay Marian McNellen is out to impress with her less-than-impressive boyfriend Steve (a slithery Rob Lutfy).
All of the play’s characters are running from something — addiction, guilt, sadness, broken relationships, sordid pasts, secrets — but their problems will prove inescapable.
Robert Smyth and Deborah Gilmour Smyth play Beverly and Violet Weston in Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company’s “August: Osage County.”
(Courtesy of Pine & Pebble Photography)
The physical production is impressive, with the claustrophobic scenic design by Tony Cucuzzella, lighting by Erik Montierth, sound design and fight choreography by George Ye and costumes by Jessica John Gercke.
The play has three acts, including two 10-minute intermissions. Parking in East Village can be challenging, especially on nights when the San Diego Padres are playing at nearby Petco Park so arrive early to hunt for a spot.
‘August: Osage County’
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. 3 p.m. Sundays. Through Sept. 16
Where: Backyard Renaissance Theatre Co. at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $18-$40
Phone: (760) 975-7189
Online: backyardrenaissance.com