I'm Having...

...a bitch of a time writing about Steppenwolf's production of Tracy Letts’s new play, August: Osage County, mainly because I’m not sure if I should take a page from Matthew Freeman’s anti-reviewing philosophy and just go, “Jesus Christ, people! Go see this! It’ll be easily the best thing you’ll see all year,” or give it it’s due and write a well-reasoned analysis/review of the piece.

I keep starting and re-starting from either angle and end up being dissatisfied with what I’ve written.

Suffice it to say, I’ll spend the rest of today and tomorrow trying to overcome this conundrum, but for now I’ll say that if you haven’t yet seen August: Osage County, you really should. It’s only the second play I’ve seen this year and it looks like it’s already a shoe-in for one of the best plays of 2008 (yes, I liked it that much).

The acting across the board is excellent.

The story is captivating and compelling.

The set is amazing.

The play flies by at three and a half hours.

Ultimately, I felt like I was watching a marathon session of a really good HBO series. (Oh, wait. Right. I'm not supposed to compare theatre to television. Whatever. I'm doing it, anyway. Suck it.)

The story is captivating and compelling.So, yeah. While I try to get my act in gear, you should go see August: Osage County.

Hemming and hawing,

James "I Loved It" Comtois