Park Square Theatre's Season Opens with AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Park Square's 36th season opens with a perceptible crackle when the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY comes to its stage in September. Leah Cooper, in her Park Square debut, directs this gripping dark comedy that lit Broadway on fire in 2007.

When their alcoholic patriarch disappears, the extended Weston family returns to their Oklahoma homestead to confront unspoken truths and secrets. Violet, the acid-tongued, pill-popping matriarch of the clan is the center of a family storm that includes adultery, suicide, animosity, guilt and denial.

"I was drawn by the razor-sharp writing," says director Leah Cooper. "It's simultaneously the most tragic of family dysfunction, Americana gone wrong, and also wickedly, uproariously funny. Smart dialogue, beautiful poetry, fascinating characters and a totally compelling story."

Cooper continues, "It definitely resonates for me as a Gen X-er in the middle of this generational drama and as a child of crazy people from out West. But with three distinctly American generations represented so recognizably I think it will resonate with everyone. By the end, it's a deeply moving realization of how each generation learns from - and survives - the last."

"There's no doubt that this play is full of tough material," Park Square Artistic Director Richard Cook agrees. "It takes you on a wild ride and suddenly drops you in a new place. It's also a powerful woman's story - I knew immediately I wanted a woman to direct it. And Leah Cooper has certainly assembled a crew of actors who can blow us away on stage, including Barbara Kingsley and Stephen D'Ambrose who understudied the leads for the Broadway tour."

"My, oh my, the talent. Actors love this play too," says Cooper, "so we got to cast from the best. Barbara and Stephen had the whole national tour to think about how they wanted to do it, and now this is their chance. Both of them are magnificent at building characters who defy our ability to pick a side - they, and the rest of this stellar cast will embody characters we will love and hate with equal and alternating passion. And on Park Square's beautiful stage, the audience will enjoy these dangerous and lovable characters much more intimately than was possible at the Ordway. The lunacy will be right in their laps."

This first local production of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY opens September 16 and runs through October 2 at Park Square Theatre, 20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul. Directed by Minnesota Theatre Alliance Executive Director Leah Cooper in her Park Square directorial debut, the top-notch cast features real life husband and wife teams Stephen D'Ambrose and Barbara Kingsley as Beverly and Violet and Karen Landry and Chris Mulkey as Mattie Fae and Charlie, and includes Christian Bardin (Jean), Virginia S. Burke (Barbara), Cristina Castro (Johnna), Kate Eifrig (Karen), Charles Fraser (Little Charles), Terry Hempleman (Sheriff), Michael Paul Levin (Steve), Peter Moore (Bill), and Carolyn Pool (Ivy).

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY's creative team includes Annie Cady (costume designer), Michael Hoover (scenic designer), Michael P. Kittel (lighting designer), Kirby Moore (properties designer) and David Schneider (fight choreographer).

Previews of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY will be held Friday, September 9 through Thursday, September 15.

The show opens Friday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Sunday, October 2. Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Sundays. All performances are in the company's beautifully remodeled proscenium theater in Saint Paul's historic Hamm Building, 20 W. Seventh Place. Tickets are $38-$58 (preview tickets are $25). Group, senior and special prices for those 30 and under are also offered. Tickets are available at 651.291.7005 or online www.parksquaretheatre.org.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
By Tracy Letts
Directed by Leah Cooper
Sept. 16 - Oct. 2, 2011 (Previews begin Sept. 9)

PARK SQUARE THEATRE
20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul
Box office: 651-291-7005 or www.parksquaretheatre.org

 

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