AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Is Nominated For Four Olivier Awards

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is very proud to announce its critically-acclaimed American play August: Osage County by Steppenwolf ensemble member Tracy Letts, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, is nominated for four 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards including:

Best new play - Tracy Letts

Best company performance

Best actress - Deanna Dunagan

Best set design - Todd Rosenthal

The nominations follow August: Osage County's recent sold-out run at London's National Theatre (Lyttelton Theatre), November 21, 2008 – January 21, 2009.  This year, for the first time, the Olivier panel introduced a new award for Best Company Performance, in order to reflect the high level of ensemble productions in 2008.  Steppenwolf is proud to be among the inaugural nominees in this category.

The 33rd annual Laurence Olivier Awards, considered to be London's most prestigious theatre awards, will be presented Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. For more information, visit www.OlivierAwards.co.uk.

The London cast of August: Osage County included: Steppenwolf ensemble members Ian Barford as Little Charles, Gary Cole as Steve Heidebrecht, Mariann Mayberry as Karen Weston, Amy Morton as Barbara Fordham, Sally Murphy as Ivy Weston, Jeff Perry as Bill Fordham and Rondi Reed as Mattie Fay Aiken, with Deanna Dunagan as Violet Weston, Kimberly Guerrero as Johnna Longwell, Paul Vincent O'Connor as Charlie Aiken, Molly Ranson as Jean Fordham, Chelcie Ross as Beverly Weston and Troy West as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau.

August: Osage County tells the explosively funny tale of the Weston clan, triggered by the recent disappearance of the family patriarch.  With rich insight and brilliant humor, Letts' critically-acclaimed play paints a vivid portrait of a Midwestern family at a critical turning point.

The National Theatre production featured the original Chicago and Broadway design team:  Todd Rosenthal (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Ann G. Wrightson (lights), Richard Woodbury (sound), David Singer (original music) and Chuck Coyl (fight choreography).

August: Osage County was recently named Best New Play at the London's 2008 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards (Tracy Letts). August also received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Tracy Letts) and five 2008 Tony® Awards including Best Play (Tracy Letts), Best Direction (Anna D. Shapiro), Best Leading Actress (Deanna Dunagan), Best Featured Actress (Rondi Reed) and Best Scenic Design (Todd Rosenthal).

August: Osage County is currently playing at Broadway's Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street), following its premiere and sold-out run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2007. August: Osage County opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre on December 4, 2007.

The national touring company of August: Osage County will begin performances at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado in July 2009.  Subsequent U.S. tour engagements are available at www.augustonbroadway.com. 

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon.  The Chicago company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work.  Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of forty-one artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.  For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org.

The National Theatre of Great Britain, founded in 1963, and established on the South Bank in 1976, has three theatres – the Olivier, the Lyttelton and the Cottesloe.  It presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory at any one time. It aims constantly to re-energize the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike, and aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of the nation's culture. At its Studio, the National offers a space for research and development for the NT's stages and the theatre as a whole; and through NT Education, tomorrow's audiences are addressed. With its extensive programme of Platform performances, backstage tours, foyer music, exhibitions, and free outdoor entertainment the National recognizes that theatre doesn't begin and end with the rise and fall of the curtain. And by touring, it shares its work with audiences in the UK and abroad.   For additional information, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk.

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