The Belvoir St Theatre has taken on some very challenging material this year but there is a strong argument that August: Osage County is the most ambitious of all. With a gargantuan runtime spanning three and a half hours and two intervals and an audience with the lofty expectations of seeing a performance of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play (it won the Prize for Drama in 2008), the production team and performers had quite the task. 

The play tells of a mid-West family that centres around Beverly (John Howard) and Violet (Pamela Rabe). After Beverly commits suicide, Violet, who is suffering from mouth cancer, must piece together the rest of her life, surrounded by her family who have come from all over the country. This includes her three daughters, played by Tamsin Carroll, Anna Samson and Amy Mathews and their partners as well as her sister played by Helen Thomson. 

The play initially centres around Beverly hiring Johanna (Bee Cruse), a young Cheyenne woman as housekeeper shortly before his death. Cruse is woefully underused, although this is, to some degree, symptomatic of the storyline itself and the malaise of the family but has a crucial role in bookending the play. 

What keeps this play entertaining and engaging, in spite of its runtime, is its use of humour. While the first act starts quite slowly and takes its time to set the scene, the second act is relatively fast-paced and laden with both subtle and not-so-subtle humour. Its use is clever and well-utilised by the performers, especially by Carroll as Barbara. This results in a strong end to the second act, where all the characters are on stage and have a role to play in the action and the family dynamic is at its most revealing. 

Unfortunately, a lot of the momentum generated by the strength of the second act falls away at the start of the third, with the layers and nuance of the writing not quite coming out. In some part, this is due to the fact that this part of the script is heavily contextual, meaning that it does not resonate quite as well with Australian audiences. This is perhaps one of the more prevailing issues with running this play in Australia. While the play seeks to convey the universality of the experiences and the familial dynamics, the setting is quite distinctly American and is so in a way that does not evoke many parallels with an Australian experience. This makes it quite a difficult watch (especially given its runtime) for those not acutely interested in the craft of theatre.  

Overall, the acting is superb, with Rabe and Carroll standouts in very difficult and substantial roles. They convey a wide range of emotions and do so with a great degree of flair to capture the audience as well. The two side plots, involving an star-crossed affair and a generational familial breakdown, are also expertly handled by all involved. 

However, as an aside, while the acting throughout the play is very strong, inconsistencies in the accent work are surprising and noticeable for the duration of the production. There are often slips back into Australian accents and even when this does not occur, the American mid-west accents are not wholly convincing. This is a surprise given the otherwise high quality of the production. 

Set designer Bob Cousins has put together a strong set that evokes a feeling of aridness and isolation, utilising the illusion of space well and the lighting is also strong, matching up with the emotions on the stage. This is a play with great attention to detail beyond the mere act of performance and this is very much characteristic of and synonymous with the Belvoir experience. 

Ultimately, the success of this play depends on the intentions and demographics of the audience. For those wanting to see a well-executed piece of theatre that demonstrates excellence in acting and exposition, this is a great watch. But for those searching for a production that has resonance in Australia, I’m not certain that this play has universal application to the extent to which the production team hopes. Nonetheless, it is another strong production in a generally superb Belvoir season and is commended to those who can get past the runtime and would like to appreciate the craft of theatre.

Rating: ★★★★

August: Osage County plays at the Belvoir St Theatre until 15^th December. For more information, click here.

All photo credits: Brett Boardman