Oklahoma
Suggested by: Anne
Traveled: Oct 1-3

Oh, how deliciously dysfunctional! Part of why I enjoyed August: Osage County so much was simply a return to a dramatic genre that I hold dear. But undoubtedly much of my delight came from a juicy dose of Schadenfreude. It’s a dark comedy — the members of the Weston family harbor hurtful secrets and undeniable pain. But to see them tripping over themselves, hunting for pills and even managing an opportunity to hit a philanderer with a frying pan, brought a silliness to the tragedy of their familial relations.

The characters that Letts has written hardly need a staged production to properly introduce themselves (though I would jump at the opportunity to see this work mounted). They are tough yet broken, and almost all manage to retain a sliver of sympathy within the reader, even as the list of their collective sins grows longer with each passing scene.

I’m certainly glad they aren’t my family. All the same, I’d relish the opportunity to be a fly on their unstable walls. I’m grateful that Tracy Letts gave me just that.