August: Osage County

By: Tracy Letts

Narrated by: Tara Lynne Barr, Shannon Cochran, Rosemarie DeWitt, Deanna Dunagan, Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Scott Jaeck

Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play, Tracy Letts' darkly comic epic offers a painfully funny look at a family struggling in the desolate heart of America.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording, featuring members of the original Steppenwolf Theatre and Broadway productions: Tara Lynne Barr, Shannon Cochran, Deanna Dunagan (Tony Award®, Best Leading Actress), Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Scott Jaeck, Ron Livingston, Robert Maffia, Mariann Mayberry, Rondi Reed (Tony Award®, Best Featured Actress), and David Warshofsky. Directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Recorded by L.A. Thetare Works before a live audience.

©2014 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2014 L.A. Theatre Works

Side-Splitting and Heart-Breaking!

I've seen this show live and this is the next-best thing. Fantastic in every way!

All too Real

Excellent play filled with real people and real issues. Enjoyed the story and the performance. Good story development leaves you satisfied and wanting more.

Just fucking awful

Trash. possibly the worst hour of screaming I’ve indured since I left my abusive husband.

Funny and gut wrenching drama.

Sometimes outrageously laugh out loud funny, but the laugh sticks in your throat as often as not. This is at it's heart a gut wrenching family drama. All the more harrowing due to a great cast of actors that know and feel their characters. The emotions really comes across.

I hesitated when buying this. Do I really want to give almost three hours of listening time to a live audience play? Let me say, I did not regret it.

Almost as good as being there...

I never got to see this play live. This is the next best thing. I'm very glad I purchased this title. The story is compelling and very well written. I've read plays before, but this stars the original Tony award winning cast. Great way to spend 3 hours. Listening to a little bit of culture.

Hated the bad language! Too much!

I absolutely hated the foul language! It was carried too far and ruined the story for me! The performers were good. The story was disturbing. But the cursing like a longshoreman ruined it. Total waste of my money and time.

this was good

wow felt like I was actually watching a play.....I'm going to listen again. would recommend for a short read

Spectacular Production 🎭

This is a VERY good production of a terrific Pulitzer Prize-winning play, but like at least one previous reviewer, I do recommend that listeners first read the script, see a live stage production, or at least watch the excellent film starring Meryl Streep as Violet and Julia Roberts as Barb. For one thing, scenes that depend on stunning visuals (such as when one character lunges at another across the table during the funeral banquet, and when one character clocks another in the head with a frying pan to prevent sexual abuse of a teenager) will be lost on a listener new to the play. Also, this production features a Barb who sounds a little too much like Violet, so if you didn't know the play very well, you might occasionally be confused as to which character is speaking. Knowing the play already, I loved this listen, as did my husband. This won't be our last time listening.

Interesting side note: The playwright, Tracy Letts, is also a wonderful actor, and won a Tony award for his performance as George in a recent Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. He also played the part of the college dean in last year's stunning fim Indignation.

Grade: A+

outstanding

What a wonderful performance, each one of the performers is at the top of their game.

Amazing story!

This emotional interplay of family relationships and the role of grace and forgiveness kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the performance.