BWW Reviews: AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY at Balagan – Stunningly Powerful

If you've seen it you know you love it. "August: Osage County" has got to be one of the most powerful stories to grace the stage in quite some time. And soon everyone will love it as it's about to be turned into a movie due out next November with a powerhouse cast. But until that time you can still visit with the Westons right here in Seattle with the regional premiere of this stunning work brilliantly put up by Balagan Theatre.

The claws come out and the fur and secrets fly as the Weston family gathers together to support each other during a tragedy. There's the alcoholic Beverly Weston (Charles Leggett) or his pill popping wife Violet (Shellie Shulkin). Then there's their three daughters Barbara, Ivy and Karen (Teri Lazzara, Caitlin Frances, and Kate Jaeger) and Barbara's family Bill and their daughter Jean (Chris Ensweiler and Devynne Gannon). Add into that mix Violet's sister Mattie Fay and her husband Charlie and their son Little Charles (Lisa Viertel, John Q. Smith and David Goldstein), the new Native American maid Johnna (Jordi Montes), Karen's fiancé Steve (Gordon Carpenter) and Barbara's high school boyfriend Deon (Ashley Bagwell); turn up the heat past 90 in an Oklahoma August and shake well and what you have is a recipe for disaster as the family doesn't so much comfort as lay out all their dirty laundry in some of the most honest, raw and sometimes vicious ways possible. It's a small wonder author Tracy Letts won not only the Tony for the play but also a Pulitzer.

But a play this great needs an equally amazing cast to pull it off or it would just be a train wreck (the bad kind and not the good kind it can be). Luckily director Shawn Belyea has assembled a kind of who's who of Seattle up and comers and veterans to portray the family everyone is glad is not theirs. I could spend pages and pages talking about how incredible each of these actors are and what a fine ensemble the sum of their respective parts creates but that would keep you from rushing right out and ordering tickets. But I have to mention a few bits of incredible. Lazzara as the daughter trying to hold this crumbling world together couldn't be more wonderful. Her arc throughout the play culminating into the personification she fears most is a sight to behold. Leggett may have only had a short time on stage but what he does with that time is magnificent with not one ounce of a wasted moment. Viertel and Smith are equal parts hilarious and gut wrenching as they switch from brutal barbs to even more brutal truths. But it was Shulkin who almost walked off with the entire play. Her portrayal of this beyond damaged yet in control woman is one that should not be missed. Even when she's incoherently mumbling across the stage in a drug induced haze, you cannot help but be mesmerized by her and hang on her every garbled syllable. The part is a gem for any woman and Shulkin nails it!

The play, and I cannot stress this enough, is a winner. With only a few minor qualms (I didn't see the need for those projections as they weren't clear and became less emphatic and more confusing) the production is definitely one of greatness. If you haven't seen the play before, this is an excellent example. And even if you have, this production could only add to your enjoyment. In simple terms, Balagan has done it again.

"August: Osage County" from Balagan Theatre performs at the Erickson Theatre through April 27^th. For tickets or information visit them online at www.balagantheatre.org.

Photo credit: Truman Buffett Photography

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