Theatre Journal

E. Teresa Choate
August: Osage County (review)
Theatre Journal - Volume 61, Number 1, March 2009, pp. 105-106

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Project MUSE - Theatre Journal - August: Osage County (review) Project MUSE Journals Theatre Journal Volume 61, Number 1, March 2009 August: Osage County (review) Theatre Journal Volume 61, Number 1, March 2009 E-ISSN: 1086-332X Print ISSN: 0192-2882 DOI: 10.1353/tj.0.0142 Reviewed by E. Teresa ChoateKean University August: Osage County. By Tracy Letts. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro. Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Music Box, New York City. 7 June 2008. August: Osage County received near unanimous praise from critics, the kind of word-of-mouth buzz usually reserved for films and musicals, and positive audience response that was frequent and vocal. It is one of only six plays to win the triple crown of American playwriting: the Pulitzer, the Tony, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. There are at least three reasons for this production's success: it echoed significant American drama, it explored the myth of the American family, and the performances of the ensemble were remarkable. Many critics noted that August: Osage County was blatantly derivative, pointing to the father's suicide (Death of a Salesman), the drug-addicted mother (Long Day's Journey into Night), cutthroat family politics (Little Foxes), the slash-and-burn arguments of husbands and wives (Who's Afraid of Virginia...