The Tony/Pulitzer worthy play is addicted to dysfunction.

The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning play, August: Osage County has finally arrived in Southern California. This riveting play is a compelling exploration of a dysfunctional family in rural Oklahoma and its struggle to survive in the aftermath of a single, tragic event—an event that blows apart the carefully constructed fictions of family solidarity.

The play opens with Beverly Weston, a once famous poet, drinking and quoting T.S. Elliot: "The world is gradually becoming a place where I do not care to be anymore"  His disappearance at the end of the scene, and for the rest of the play, serves as the catalyst that brings all of his family home. Over the course of the play, the family secrets come to light: infidelity, incest, alcohol and drug abuse, aging, racism and the erosions not only the bonds of marriage, but of society, as well. It is a dazzling, insightful play, performed intelligently and with empathy by a brilliant cast.

Estelle Parsons, a revelation at 80, is the family matriarch. Her searing performance presents a poignant and devastating picture of the ways bitterness and obsession can destroy an entire family. Barbara, played by Shannon Cochran, is her eldest daughter who must break free of her mother’s grip and find a way to save her own life. Laurence Lau plays of Steve, the fiancé of one of Barbara’s sisters. His eerie presence signals intentions that are not as pure as his future bride imagines.

Be not put off, however, by this discussion of the darker side of the play. There are many moments of laughter that subtly carry the audience to the final devastating moment. This is a modern Long Days Journey into Night. The audience is gradually but inextricably drawn into the travails of this family. In the end we are reminded, once again, that addiction is a killer that can shatter a family and the framework of our society, leaving us desolate, with only our obsessions to keep us company at the end of the day.

• Tickets for August: Osage County start at $20 and are available by calling 213.972.4400 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Center Theatre Group box office at the Music Center. For the deaf community, call TDD 213.680.4017 for tickets and information.
   
• Playing next week: Putting it Together, words and music by Stephen Sondheim, September 11 - October 11, 2009 at the South Coast Repertory Theater.