By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
A vanished father, a pill-popping mother, and three sisters with shady secrets. When the Weston family reunites, their Oklahoma homestead explodes into tragedy, comedy, and repressed truths. Main Street Productions (MSP) is staging the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning tragicomedy, August: Osage County from June 8 to 18 at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St.
The Reporter spoke to director Brent Woolridge about the show and his path get it on stage in Westfield.
“Several years ago, I saw the movie version of it that was out because I really liked Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, and I just fell in love with it,” Woolridge told The Reporter. “I liked it because it’s so different and because of the quirkiness of it. I got the script and really liked it.”
Woolridge called this one of his bucket list shows – the ones he wants to direct before he retires from theater.
While he submitted this play to the MSP board for last season, they didn’t think it would fit with the goals of providing lighter fare for audiences coming out of the pandemic, but they did tell Woolridge to submit again for this season.
According to Woolridge, the show is about a dysfunctional family.
“The father disappears after hiring a caregiver to take care of the mother. The mother has cancer, is a drug addict and is very toxic.”
The father who disappears has left to take his own life. The daughters and their significant others gather for the funeral and have to deal with their mother’s venom.
“They haven’t seen each other in more than years,” Woolridge said. “They all have secrets and all have issues that they’re dealing with that come bubbling to the surface during the visit.”
Woolridge had 43 people audition to be in this production, which gave him a lot of freedom to find just the right actors for each role.
“I was able to pick very talented actors,” Woolridge said. “I was very blessed there. I think a lot of the reason is because it’s an actor’s show and all the parts are good in it. I think that drew people to the script – to the challenge of it. Also, I’ve directed for a very long time, and I’ve built up a reputation over the years, too.”
Woolridge said he feels very strongly that he has an exceptional cast, but they are not the only reason he knows this show will be great.
“The cast is very good,” Wooldridge said. “But I have had a really excellent producer through all this: Ka’Lena Cuevas. She’s worked diligently behind the scenes and is a very hard worker and has been very supportive. So I’d probably say, you know, she’s kind of been the glue keeping everything together, making sure everything runs smoothly.”
In addition to his cast and EP, Woolridge said the set itself will be something that audiences should remember.
“I want to give a shout out to my set designer, Ron Roessler, because the set is a very big undertaking,” Woolridge said. “The set is like two and a half stories. It was a huge undertaking. That is not seen very often in community theater.”
The drama, comedy, and tragedy of August: Osage County will stage from June 8 to 18 at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St. Go to westfieldplayhouse.org/showstickets or call (317) 402-3341 for tickets.
Photo by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com