Berkshire on Stage

Until I saw Schenectady Civic Players’ current production, August: Osage County was my favorite play that I had never seen. That is to say, I had read the play and absolutely loved it, but I had never had the opportunity to see it produced. Although it won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008, I suspect many community theaters are hesitant to produce this play. For one thing, it is long, running about three hours including intermission. For another, it deals with such heavy themes as addiction, infidelity, terminal illness, suicide, and incest. In addition, August: Osage County demands a large cast and a complicated set and can therefore be very challenging to produce with limited stage space. After waiting nearly sixteen years to see August: Osage County produced, I was finally able to see Tracy Letts’s play come to life on the Schenectady Civic stage. I am happy to say that it was everything I hoped it would be.

August: Osage County takes place, fittingly, in Osage County, Oklahoma in August. The disappearance of patriarch Beverly Weston brings an entire extended family to the home of Beverly and his pill-popping wife, Violet. Among them are Barbara, Bill, and Jean Fordham: a couple in the midst of a separation and their wise-cracking, pot-smoking fourteen-year-old daughter; Karen Weston and her sleazy new boyfriend Steve; and Mattie Fae, Charlie and “Little Charles” Aiken: Violet’s sardonic sister, her husband, and their kind-hearted but inefficacious son Little Charles, who is in a secret love affair with his first cousin, Ivy Weston. Over the course of the play, tempers ebb and flow, secrets are revealed, pills are confiscated, and the entire family is forced to see one another’s most glaring imperfections. So much happens over the course of this play that, although it runs long, the play never drags. In fact, I feel that I could have enjoyed watching the drama and the chaos of the Weston, Aiken, and Fordham families for several more hours.

Before the play even begins, audiences will be impressed with the complex, multi-tiered set. Most of the stage is taken up by the Weston’s living room and dining room, which is outfitted with a tacky but comfy-looking couch and the kind of slightly mismatched furniture and decor that comes from a long life lived in one home collecting bits and baubles. Above the living room is a second floor hallway, and above that, an attic. This allows for different scenes to be happening in different parts of the home simultaneously, just as the script calls for. Newspapers covering all the windows add an ugliness and eeriness to what would otherwise appear to be a nondescript home belonging to an aging midwestern couple.

There are some truly excellent performances and moments in this show, and it would be hard to name every element of the show that impressed me. I must, however, give kudos to a handful of individual performances in this production. Firstly, Carol Charniga’s portrayal of drug-addled Violet Weston was wonderful. As the matriarch of the family and the one around whom much of the play revolves, it is wonderful that this show had such a believable, versatile, and delightfully chaotic Violet. Amanda Dorman, Melissa Lacijan, and Brigitta Rose as Violet’s three daughters were also excellent. Brigitta Rose’s monologue in the beginning of act two about her love life, as well as Melissa Lacijan’s reaction to her long-winded and inappropriately timed diatribe, makes for a hilarious comic relief scene after a tragic ending to the previous act. Steve Leifer, playing Violet’s brother-in-law Charlie, also did a great job of inserting moments of comic relief as a sardonic but well-meaning husband on the periphery of the family drama. And Abbi Roy, who has very few lines but nevertheless spends a lot of time on stage as Violet’s live-in aid Johnna Monevata, made herself quite at home on the set so that even when she was sitting alone in the attic while the action took place on the rest of the set, her presence never felt out of place.

Finally, I must say that my absolute favorite moment in the show was the spilling of the green bean casserole. I give my utmost praise to whomever created a casserole that looked so disgustingly unappetizing and fell in such an unappealing lump that I laughed aloud even while my stomach churned.

All in all, Schenectady Civic Players’ August: Osage County is a triumph, and I hope that it will embolden other community theaters to take on bigger challenges that stretch their imaginations and their stage space. I was so delighted with this production that I couldn’t even begrudge the cast for milking their curtain call at the end of the show. As I said, although the play runs long, it is well worth any theatergoers time. So I encourage you to get yourself a cup of coffee, settle into your seat, and enjoy the rollicking family dramedy that is August: Osage County.

Schenectady Civic Players presents August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, directed by Michael McDermott, runs from March 15-24, 2024, at the Schenectady Civic Playhouse, 12 South Church Street in Schenectady, NY. Produced by Josh Horowitz. Assistant Director: Kathryn Capalbo. Stage Manager: Andrea Burger. Assistant Stage Manager: Jamie Flax-Leight. Board operator: Josh Horowitz. Cast: J Hunter as Beverly Weston, Abbi Roy as Johnna Monevata, Carol Charniga as Violet Weston, Linda Thorburn as Mattie Fae Aiken, Amanda Dorman as Ivy Weston, Steve Leifer as Charlie Aiken, Melissa Lacijan as Barbara Fordham, Shawn Olander-Hahn as Bill Fordham, Ashley Schuliger as Jean Fordham, John Sutliff as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau, Brigitta Rose as Karen Weston, Tony Pallone as Steve Heidebrecht, and Adam Barnes as Little Charles. Set design by Jennie Sinnott. Lighting design by Jared Ovitt. Sound design by Brian Starnes. Costume design by Ness Stark. Properties and set dressings by Jillian Becker et al. Fight choreography by Molly Waters. Intimacy choreography by Amelia Pena. Wigs by John Fowler. Tech assistance by Bob Healy and Joel Katz.

Performance dates are Friday–Sunday (March 15-17) and Wednesday–Sunday (March 20-24). Friday and Saturday curtains are at 8 pm, Wednesday and Thursday curtains are at 7:30 pm, and Sundays are matinees only at 2:30 pm. All tickets are $25. Runs approximately 3 hours with one intermission. Contains depictions of drug use, addiction and alcoholism, discussions of incest and suicide, and sexual situations involving a minor. Recommended for ages 15+. Tickets are available online, by phone, or at the door for any performance. Call 518-382-2081 or visit civicplayers.org for more information.