I have a couple friends in a play that is going on right now. You may have heard of it. It's called August: Osage County. Friday night, I dragged Kurtis to see it with me. And by dragged him, I mean I asked if he wanted to see a play about a dysfunctional family with me, and make a date of it. He thought that sounded awesome. So it wasn't like I put a gun to his head.
Anyway. This is not a happy play you guys. I know Julia Roberts starred in the movie recently, but I haven't seen it. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I had a feeling, so I wasn't completely unprepared mentally, but I was not prepared.
At the beginning, you meet the father (his name is Beverly of the family. He seems like a really nice guy, too. But then, a few weeks after hiring a maid to take care of his wife who had mouth cancer and is addicted to pain pills, he disappears. After five days, Ivy (the middle child) calls Barbara (her older sister). Early the morning after the oldest daughter arrives, the sheriff arrives to tell them they found him. Drown in the lake. Soon the whole family arrives and begins to unravel.
The acting in this play is amazing. The script is so good. I really did like this play, but it is heavy. I felt as if a weight had been placed on my shoulders. As though this family said, "Here, carry this burden for me for a little while. I can't do it anymore." And then they all gave you their individual burdens. Sometimes when you bare a burden that isn't actually yours, it feels heavier than all the others in your backpack.
Lots of people will go see this play and it will not affect them like this. Kurtis liked the play. He didn't walk away from it feeling like melting into a puddle on the floor, but I did. I'm laying in bed emailing this to myself on my kindle to publish later, in tears. Kurtis told me he would be like the uncle in the play - trying to calm everybody down. I know. He totally would and that's why I love him. I told him I would be in the corner crying and rocking back and forth covering my ears during the fighting. Maybe humming a tune of some sort to down it out. We both agreed that even our families aren't that dysfunctional.
Now, I'm not saying plays like this shouldn't be written or done. Not at all. I'm just describing how it made me feel. Also, I really like that there are finally theatre companies in Utah that will do the hard to watch things, or things that would make you uncomfortable. Around here, the plays that are fluffy happy family-friendly ones tend to win out. Those are great for when you want to take your kids out and do something as a family, but sometimes I don't want to take my kids out. More often, I will take my kids to see a movie at the dollar theater than take them to a play that's $20 a seat. It's ridiculous to think that a family could even afford something like that. That would be $100 for a family of five, so no thank you. Also, they tend to do the same shows over and over because they are "safe". I've still never seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor-ed Dream Coat, but I'm sure I won't have to wait long for the opportunity to come around again. And I don't necessarily want to watch shows that are for children either. Sometimes I do. But not always.
So it's awesome that I could get to see such amazing actors doing an amazing piece of work. The direction was phenomenal, the actors were just brilliant, and I am still thinking about the characters and the story two days later. So if you have the chance, I would go see it. Performances are selling out. You can buy your tickets here. There are only three shows left. Oh, I also need to say that this play would be rated R if it were a movie because of language. But I only say that because I know some people care about that.
Oh hey, and if you were wondering why there was no Sacrament Meeting Art today and last week, it's simply because the piece I am working on isn't finished yet. I think it will be next week though, so stay tuned!
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