At the height of a swelteringly hot summer in pawhuska, oklahoma, beverly weston hires a young native american woman named johnna monevata as a livein housekeeper. Osage county on dvd april 8, 2014 starring meryl streep, julia roberts, chris cooper, margo martindale. With meryl streep, dermot mulroney, julia roberts, juliette lewis. It was written by tracy letts and based on his pulitzer prizewinning eponymous play. Osage county summary from litcharts the creators of. Osage county is a dark comedy that doubles audiences in laughter one moment and then gasps them in shock the next moment without warning and without apology. Osage county movie trailer, cast, plot, and release date starring meryl streep, julia roberts and ewan mcgregor. Emotional damage to the three weston daughters in august. Beverly weston, a poet and retired professor, is interviewing johnna for the job of housekeeper. Comparison of settings between the glass menagerie and august. See plot diagram summary prologue the play is set in august 2007, in a large house in rural osage county, oklahoma. Osage county tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings. Winner of the 2008 pulitzer prize, tracy letts darkly comic drama august.
One of the most bracing and critically acclaimed plays in recent history, august. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of august osage county by tracy letts. I suspect, based on my reading of the play i have not seen the production, that this might be the case with tracy letts pulitzer prizewinning play, august. Osage county tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose lives have diverged until. Osage county tells the tale of the dysfunctional westin clan, who all come together after the death of patriarch beverly weston sam shepard. First staged at the steppenwolf theater in june 2007, it went on to a 648performance run on broadway, eventuallywinning the tony award and the drama desk award for best. It was the recipient of the 2008 pulitzer prize for drama.
The play premiered at the steppenwolf theatre in chicago on june 28, 2007, and closed on august 26, 2007. Osage county essays are academic essays for citation. Osage county is worthy of the praise it has received from critics and audiences. This disdainful woman makes the viewer feel a variety of emotions. As the clan bickers and jokes, old truths come to the surface, jealousies flourish, and eventually each of the characters confronts some past hurt or future fear. When the patriarch of the weston clan disappears one hot summer night, the family reunites at the oklahoma homestead, where longheld secrets are unflinchingly and uproariously revealed.
W hen tracy letts accepted the tony for best play in 2008, he finished his speech with a bitter kicker. People can convince themselves they love a painted rock. The story begins when beverly is trying to hire a new livein cook and caregiver. Osage county, which premiered in 2007, the dysfunctional and estranged weston family is. In the play, the first line of the prologue is revelatory. Osage county is a 20 american comedydrama film directed by john wells. A look at the lives of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back home. Osage county study guide contains a biography of tracy letts, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
The play premiered at the steppenwolf theatre in chicago on june. Osage county plot begins in august as the action takes place over several weeks in the home of beverly and violet weston in oklahoma. Dramatists play service, one of the premier playlicensing and theatrical publishing agencies in the world, was formed in 1936 to foster national opportunities for playwrights by publishing affordable editions of their plays and handling the performance rights to these works. Osage county goes to some heavy places, upturning longburied resentments and secrets. Osage county is an awardwinning play by wellknown contemporary playwright tracy letts.
Osage county screened at the 20 toronto international film festival. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. Osage county plot summary, character breakdowns, context and analysis, and performance video clips. Beverly is a poet and has a drinking problem while his wife suffers from mouth cancer and has become addicted to drugs. Toronto tracy letts pulitzer and tonywinning play about the unique capacity for cruelty of the modern american family, august. Osage county, is a fat juicy steak of a drama marinated in. Sometimes theatrical plays dont translate well onto the screen. Act one begins a few days later as violets sister, mattie fae and her husband, charlie, talk with ivy, beverly and violets middle daughter. Osage county premiered at the 20 toronto international film festival on september 9, 20, before its release in select cities on december 27, 20, followed by a wide release on january 10, 2014, in the united states. A look at the lives of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Osage county is a portrait of the dysfunctional american family at its finestand absolute worst. Dps offers an extensive list of titles that includes many of the most significant plays of the past century. As the horrifying revelations pile upincluding incest, child molestation and mistaken paternityand the battered participants slink off in despair one by one, august.
Osage county full plot summary including detailed synopsis and summaries for each scene. It can be a lot to take at times, but letts knack for dark humor, and streeps flawless delivery of the same, allows for levity when the tale is at its most bleak. They did an amazing thing, he said, in reference to the backers of august. It is produced by george clooney, grant heslov, jean doumanian, and steve traxler the film stars an ensemble cast consisting of meryl streep, julia roberts, ewan mcgregor, chris cooper, abigail breslin. Story of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the midwest house. Letts wrote the play in 2007, at the end of the bush administration and the beginning of a.
Dialogue is king here, and as a result the film ends up being more audio than visual. Osage county ends with the daughters leaving and the mother alone in the house with the housekeeper. This isnt necessarily a problem, entertainment wise, as the film is still enjoyable if you buy into the story of course, which from the looks of it a lot of people wont. Osage county costume design karen karen is a little flashy, she wears her clothes tight and in brighter colors than the rest of the cast. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of august. Karen would wear something just slightly inappropriate to the funeral, a little too low cut and a little too short. After a strong run on broadway in 2007 selling out august osage county tickets many months in advance, the steppenwolf theatre company decided to take the show on the road in 2009 and traveled to many locations in the united states to bring further. Osage county rightfully boils down to the fates of violet and barbara, both left husbandless and damaged by the events. Osage county, the screen adaptation of tracy lettss pulitzer prizewinning 2007 drama of family dysfunction. Welcome to osage county, oklahoma in the sweltering heat of august. A website dedicated to august osage county, one of the most successful broadway shows to hit new york city in many years. Osage county opens with a prologue in which beverly weston hires johnna, a young native american woman, as a housekeeper and caregiver to his drugaddicted wife, violet. Osage county tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
The play opens with beverly weston delivering a monologue about poetry and suicide, a foreshadowing of the events to come. Were considering expanding this synopsis into a fulllength study. Osage county is a black comedy by american playwright tracy letts. It is a play about a group of people who, despite fierce vices and deeprooted differences, are tightly. Violet weston, excellently portrayed by meryl streep, is the matriarch of the family. Osage county is as complicated as the characters within it.
What you choose to show at the ending when the credits start, what the music is those are the questions we were dealing with. The matriarch, violet, depressed and addicted to pain pills and truthtelling, is joined by her three daughters and their problematic lovers, who harbor their. The matriarch, violet, depressed and addicted to pain pills and truthtelling, is joined by her three daughters and their problematic lovers, who harbor. A look at the lives of the strongwilled women of the weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Osage county you are looking for emotional, touching and humorous movies about with dysfunctional family, suicide, funeral, family in crisis, family secret, drug addiction and death in the family themes of comedy and drama genre shot in usa.
August osage county at the rochester civic theatre duration. Winner of the 2008 pulitzer prize and tony award for best new play, august. Osage county is adapted from a play, and it really shows. Hopefully, the play will be embraced by college professors, for the text is rich with compelling characters and scintillating criticism of the modern american family.
The action takes place over the course of several weeks in august inside the threestory home of beverly and violet weston. Get all the key plot points of tracy lettss august. The play is set in august 2007, in a large house in rural osage county, oklahoma. He then interviews johnna, a young cheyenne woman, for the position of livein caregiver for his wife violet, who is addicted to painkillers after being diagnosed with mouth cancer. Osage county falls into an uncanny valley between melodrama and camp, failing to achieve either heights of operatic feeling or flights of knowing parody. Osage county centers around the weston family, brought together after their patriarch, worldclass poet and alcoholic beverly weston, disappears. Thats how it has always ended, thats how it will always end. Wikileaks drama kicks off a huge slate of major world premieres, including august. This summary of august osage county includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. It was also released on january 1, 2014, in australia.
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