Every family has its issues, but most will seem slight when compared to Oklahoma’s dysfunctional Weston clan, the center of Tracy Letts' darkly comedic, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, August: Osage County. When the alcoholic family patriarch disappears, the family gathers at the ranch. It is here, during the ensuing wait, that the family’s true colors are revealed through its domineering, chain-smoking, pill-popping, foul-mouthed mother whose incessant banter spares no one. Drugs, drink, infidelity, anger, hatred, and physical and verbal abuse are par for the course. All fall victim to the rancor, including the local sheriff, the matriarch’s old flame. Fast moving and entertaining, this family remains an unmitigated mess right to the end.
Catch the family affair’s première Arizona production at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 31, at Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street. Tickets are $22 and $25. Visit www.mesaartscenter.com or call 480-644-6500.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Starts: Jan. 31. Continues through March 9, 2014
