Have you ever been to a show that just...exhausts you? You leave feeling like you need a giant cup of coffee, or a handful of Skittles, or a really big hug!
You are positively drained. And you love it.
I saw "August: Osage County" for the first time the other night, and it had a really strong effect on me.
JJ Accrocco, an up-and-coming Chicago writer I spoke to on opening night, had this to say: "It's like a bad accident, I can't look away! It's so interesting to how years of dysfunction have trickled down through several generations."
"Dysfunction" is just the tip of the iceberg.
I won't spoil anything for those of you who aren't familiar with the show, but I will say this: I laughed, I cried, I was queasy with emotion.
Queasy.
There are no limits! You are so engaged with this family that you feel their pain, their anguish, their anxiety. I know that sounds kind of obvious, but as far as I'm concerned that's rare in theater nowadays. On most occasions you can merely empathize with characters. You can understand their situation and relate it to your own circumstances.
But with "August: Osage County", you don't just sympathize, you experience. You suffer while they suffer.
Which is why I felt like I had been punched in the gut afterwards. I just wanted to lie down.
And it's got some of the meanest dialogue since "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". I'm simply in awe of actors who can put themselves through such catharsis 8 times a week.
Go. See it. NOW! It's the good kind of train wreck.
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