Cornell Theatre: “August: Osage County”
Their titles are firmly set in memory. Often, they are the great plays you saw or read. You know them: the How-Dysfunctional-Can-a-Family-Get plays. Start at the beginning: “Agamemnon,” “Oedipus,” “Medea,” “King Lear,” “Macbeth,” “Richard the Third,” “A Doll House,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” What’s the attraction? Is it sitting in the dark thinking: “OMG, maybe I don’t have it so tough at home after all!” or even better: “How did they know that—that’s my mother up there!”
The appeal is enormous. As Tolstoy said: “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And the Westons, of Osage County, Oklahoma, not only echo the great themes of the towering unhappy families but make their unhappiness uniquely American and contemporary.
Tracy Letts won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and five Tony Awards for “August” and followed it with a Tony in 2012 for his performance as George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” His early plays are bloody and provocative. His later work, “The Man from Nebraska,” “August,” and “Superior Donuts” (yes, the one ripped off for the TV sit-com) are more contemplative and evocative. You’ve seen him on “Seinfeld,” “Homeland,” “The Big Short,” and “Divorce.”
- “August: Osage County” is by Tracy Letts
- Director: Jay Edelnant, guest director from the University of Northern Iowa
Performance Dates:
- Thursday, May 3, 2018: 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, May 4, 2018: 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, May 5, 2018: 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, May 6, 2018: 2:00 p.m.
Ticket Pricing:
- Adults $10
- Seniors/Students/Youth $7
- Free for Cornell College Faculty/Staff/Students
For tickets contact the Box Office at 319-895-4293 or at boxoffice@cornellcollege.edu. Regular Box Office business hours are Monday-Friday at 3:15–5:15 p.m. two weeks prior to performance, and one hour prior to show time. The Box Office is closed during block breaks and school holidays.
