BILL (Tom Holt Jones) restrains his wife (Shannon Warrick as Barbara) in “August: Osage County,” at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre through May 4.
Ben Krantz photos

I WASN’T ACTUALLY PLANNING to catch this Contra Costa Civic Theatre production. There are times, like now, when a few promising shows are going on at the same time and I have to choose among them, usually favoring those most local to Benicia.

Last Friday, though, just a couple of hours before showtime, the show I was planning to see close to home was cancelled, and I had to make a last-minute change. It was a bit of a scramble, but I ended up hitting on one of the best shows I have seen in quite a while. I feel lucky that the theater still had a few seats open when I contacted them, just an hour before their unusually early 7:30 p.m. curtain.

“August in Osage County,” a 2007 work by American playwright Tracy Letts, features several primary roles — and, almost to the last, each one at the Civic production is played exceptionally well under the capable direction of Marilyn Langbehn.

The central figure in “August” is Violet Weston (Ann Kendrick), an aging matriarch who has become dependent on pain medication while her husband (Richard Friedlander as Beverly) finds his own solace in liquid form. When Beverly doesn’t return one day after leaving the house for unknown reasons, Violet eventually becomes concerned enough to contact her children. They all rush to her aid, most of them traveling from out of state, and the extended family is temporarily reunited.

Kendrick plays the neurotic matron with great power and sensitivity, drawing audiences more deeply into her character with each unfolding chapter. We first see Violet emerging from her bed in a doped-up haze, but once the family begins to arrive at the house we start to get glimpses of her wiser, soberer self.

Kendrick is a supreme talent on the stage —yet in this case she shares that distinction with a number of her peers.

Barbara (Shannon Warrick), the eldest of Violet’s four daughters, is not the first to arrive at the family home, but she is the one Violet has been waiting for. At first the reason seems to be simple favoritism, but it is soon revealed that Barbara has been a particularly special help to her mother in the past. Warrick masters every aspect of the role, a spectrum of qualities that ranges from broken and hopeless to authoritative and decisive.

Jennie Brick is also a delight to watch as Barbara’s snappy, self-righteous sister Mattie Fae. Kelly Rinehart is endearing as Ivy, and Caroline Schneider rounds out the sibling quartet as naïve but gleeful Karen. They all seem to have their own, well-defined personalities, but each can trace some inner turmoil to the common familial past that binds them.

Karen is eager to win her sister Barbara’s approval of her new beau, begging her opinion after the two of them have barely met, but Barbara is so absorbed by managing a big family dinner that she doesn’t seem to pick up on her sister’s sense of urgency. Meanwhile, after putting up with relentless pestering by her mom over still being single at her age, Ivy finally confesses that there is a new man in her life — though for some reason she stubbornly refuses to divulge any further details.

By the time the family sits down to dinner together, tensions are already high. When Violet starts blurting out hurtful family secrets, things take a turn for the worse, and by the time the curtain falls on Act Two it feels like no one has escaped unscathed.

Standout performances in “August” include Alyssa Kim as Johnna the housekeeper, Justin DuPuis as Karen’s shady fiancé and high school sophomore Theresa Westphal as precocious granddaughter Jean Fordham. Their parts serve as supplemental but key elements in the unfolding family drama, and the actors master the subtleties of their roles.

In a couple of places, it feels like the playwright just needed some extra time to fill in the blanks. When Violet’s husband relates the nature of his marriage in the opening scene, and again later when Karen explains to one of her sisters the true story of her life, the mood shifts considerably as the story is told rather than shown.

It was a stroke of luck that brought me to Contra Costa Civic Theatre last Friday, and I couldn’t be more glad.

If You Go
“August: Osage County” continues at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito through May 4. Tickets are $12.50 to $21.50 and are available by calling 510-524-9132 or online at ccct.org. Disclaimer: This play contains adult language and situations, and is recommended for ages 16 and older.

ANN KENDRICK as Violet Weston in “August: Osage County.”

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