Through October 9 - August: Osage County at Marin Theatre Company. The dysfunctional family dynamics that Tracy Letts captures in his darkly hilarious 3-act play are so eternally relevant that I forget it only premiered in 2007. This is American playwriting at its finest, well worthy of the Pulitzer and the multiple Tony Awards it would win, and MTC's superb production (with performances by an incredible ensemble, and *that set*) knocks it clear out of the park. The main action of the play takes place after a brief introduction by Beverly Weston — aging father to three daughters, husband to pill-popping wife Violet, certified alcoholic. He exits, and the women take over the stage, each a satisfyingly-drawn character with her own set of familial issues and secrets that emerge in clandestine conversations and screaming brawls directed to perfection by Jason Minadakis. Sherman Fracher is a standout as matriarch Violet, as is Arwen Anderson as her oldest daughter Barbara. It can all be excruciating to watch, certainly, but Letts gives an energy and complexity to the trainwreck that makes it impossible to look away. August: Osage County is an instant classic, a play that we will be returning to again and again for decades to come.
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