Baby Barredo, Pinky Amador to Lead Rep's AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED

Repertory Philippines (Rep) production of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, written by Tracy Letts, will run from Friday, February 21 to Sunday, March 16, 2014 at Onstage Theatre (2/F Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Roxas corner Legazpi St., Makati City).

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is set on the plains of modern day, middle-class Oklahoma. The Weston family members are all intelligent, sensitive creatures who have the uncanny ability of making each other absolutely miserable. When the patriarch of the household mysteriously vanishes, the Weston clan gathers together to simultaneously support and attack one another.

Written with a strong sense of humor, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY tells the meltdown of the Weston family as each member has personal difficulties that are unresolved.

Theater stalwart Chris Millado, who is currently the Vice-President and Artistic Director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, will direct the cast spearheaded by Baby Barredo and Pinky Amador.

Baby Barredo plays Violet Weston, the central character of the play, which tracks her life across the month of August while she lives in Oklahoma. The devious matriarch, Violet is addicted to painkillers (and any other pill she can pop) and alcohol, and is beyond the glory of her life when she was a famous poet. She suffers from cancer of the mouth. But that doesn't stop her from spewing her cynicism or her hilariously sinister insults. She has also lost Beverly, her husband.

Pinky Amador plays Barbara Fordham, the eldest daughter. In many ways, Barbara is the strongest and most sympathetic character. Throughout the play, she tries to gain control of her chaotic mother, her dilapidated marriage, and her pot-smoking 14-year-old daughter.

Tami Monsod plays Ivy Weston, the middle daughter. A quiet librarian and stereotypically mousy. Ivy has stayed close to home, unlike the other errant Weston sisters. This means Ivy has had to endure the acid tongue of her mother. She has a secret love affair with her first cousin.

Liesl Batucan plays Karen Weston, the youngest daughter. She claims to have been unhappy her entire adult life, prompting her to move away from the family and reside in Florida. However, she returns to the Weston home bringing along a fiancé in tow: A successful 50-year-old businessman who, unbeknownst to Karen, turns out to by the most loathsome character in the play.

Leo Rialp plays Beverly Weston, husband of Violet and father to his three 40-something daughters. He was a one-time world-class poet and full-time alcoholic. He's polite, soulful, melancholy, and ultimately suicidal.

KENNETH MORALEDA plays Bill Fordham, Barbara's estranged husband and Jean's father, 49 years old. A college professor, he has left his wife for a younger woman named Cindy, one of his students; but he wants to be there for his family. His marriage is disintegrating and his patience is slowly running thin.

Sheila Francisco plays Mattie Fae Aiken, Violet's sister, Charlie's wife, and Little Charles' mother. Just as jaded as her sister, Mattie Fae constantly belittles her son and antagonizes her husband. Eventually she reveals the major plot point that Beverly, not Charlie, is the real father of Little Charles. Sheila is also the understudy for Violet Weston.

THEA GLORIA plays Jean Fordham, Bill and Barbara's smart-tongued 14-year-old daughter. She smokes pot and cigarettes, and loves old movies. She is bitter about her parents' split. She is more naive than she would like to believe.

RICHARD CUNANAN plays Charlie Aiken, husband of Mattie Fae and the presumed father of Little Charles. Charlie, a genial man, was a lifelong friend of Beverly. He struggles to get Mattie Fae to respect Little Charles.

Hans Eckstein plays Steve Heidebrecht, Karen's fiancé. A businessman in Florida, whose business, it is hinted, centers around the Middle East and may be less than legitimate. He is not the "perfect man" that Karen considers him. He eventually sexually molests Jean after the two smoked pot together.

Noel Rayos plays "Little" Charles Aiken, son of Mattie Fae and Beverly, 37 years old-but, like everyone else, he believes Charlie is his father. Unemployed and clumsy, Charles' mother calls him a "screw-up", which may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. He is secretly having an affair with Ivy, who is revealed to be his half-sister.

Angeli Bayani plays Johnna Monevata, a Cheyenne Indian woman, whom Beverly hires as a live-in housekeeper shortly before he disappears. Violet is prejudiced against her, but she wins over the other family members with her cooking skills, hard work, and empathy. Johnna is the silent witness to much of the mayhem in the house.

NATHS EVERETT will understudy the role of Johnna Monevata.

Arnel Carrion plays Sheriff Deon Gilbeau, a high school classmate and former boyfriend of Barbara's, who brings the news of Beverly's suicide to the family.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY received the Jeff Award (Chicago - 2007) for Best New Work and Best Production. These two awards were closely followed in 2008 by other six awards: The Drama Desk for Best New Play; the Drama League for Distinguished Production of a Play; the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play.

Most especially, it was also in 2008 when the play received the biggest awards in the industry, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY was originally produced in 2007 by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company at the Downstairs Theatre in Chicago. After conquering Broadway from October 2007 until June 2009, it made its UK debut at London's National Theatre in November 2008. Consequently, many other international productions were produced in Israel, Tel Aviv, Puerto Rico, Australia, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Sweden, Peru, Spain, New Zealand, Holland, India, Poland, and the Netherlands. The movie version, starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, opened late 2013.

For tickets, call Ticketworld at (632) 891-9999,or visit ticketworld.com.ph.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is presented by special arrangement with Abrams Artists Agency. It may not be suitable for children under the age of 10.

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