August: Osage County - Productions

Productions

The show was originally produced on August 12, 2007 by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company at the Downstairs Theatre in Chicago.

The Broadway production began previews on 30 October 2007 at the Imperial Theatre only days before the 2007 Broadway stagehand strike on 10 November which temporarily closed most shows on Broadway. The strike continued through the official opening date of 20 November, forcing the show to re-schedule its 4 December opening. The Broadway show closed on 28 June 2009 after 648 performances and 18 previews.

The production, originally slated to close on 17 February 2008, was extended for three weeks to 9 March after the strike, and later extended to 13 April 2008, when it was subsequently given an open-ended commercial run.

Both the Steppenwolf and Broadway productions were directed by Anna D. Shapiro, featuring scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Ana Kuzmanic, lighting design by Ann G. Wrightson, sound design by Richard Woodbury, original music by David Singer, dramaturgy by Edward Sobel, dialect coaching by Cecille O'Reilly, and fight choreography by Charles Coyl. Both productions were stage managed by Deb Styer, with Jane Grey joining the New York company.

August: Osage County made its UK debut at London's National Theatre in November 2008.

Additionally, a US National Tour was launched at Denver's Ellie Caulkins Opera House on 24 July 2009 with Estelle Parsons portraying the role as Violet. This production went on to tour throughout the country.

The play made its Israeli debut at the Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv in January 2009 starring Gila Almagor.

Also, the play made its Puerto Rican debut at the Rene Marquez Theater Hall of the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan in March 2009 starring Gladys Rodríguez.

It also was presented in Australia, at the Arts Centre Playhouse, Melbourne, produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company, and starring Robyn Nevin, from the 23 May to 27 June 2009.

The play had its German premiere in Mannheim at the Nationaltheater (31 October 2008) under the title "Eine Familie" (German for "A family"), directed by Burkhard C. Kosminski. The Austrian premiere in Vienna, in the Akademietheater from 31 October 2009 onwards was staged by the Latvian director Alvis Hermanis and featured Kirsten Dene in the role of Violet Weston.

The play has been translated into Spanish and has premiered in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the Teatro Lola Membrives, starring Norma Aleandro and Mercedes Morán. It has been successfully running there for more than a year now, with frequent sold-outs.

The play made its Swedish debut at Göteborg City Theatre. Opening Night on 29 January 2010, starring Ann Petrén, and its Danish at the Betty Nansen Theatre in Copenhagen.

August is as well due to premiere in Montevideo by mid-2010, at the Teatro El Galpón, after the success of the Argentinian production.

August was premiered on 29 April 2010 in Lima, at the Teatro La Plaza – Isil, starring Claudia Dammert.

The Catalan play was premiered on 25 November 2010 in the Catalan National Theatre (Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Barcelona)with a great success. It was renewed for another season during 2012. The cast included Anna Lizaran as Violet and Emma Vilarasau as Barbara.

The Steppenwolf Theatre Company opened a production in Sydney in conjunction with the Sydney Theatre Company in August 2010.

The New Zealand premiere of the play was presented by Auckland Theatre Company in September 2010, starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Stuart Devenie and Nancy Brunning and directed by Colin McColl. The Wellington production opened at Circa Theatre on 1 April 2011, with Jennifer Ludlam reprising the role of Violet.

The play had its national regional premiere on 9 September 2010 in Albuquerque, NM with Fusion Theatre Company. According to the website for the company, the run for this production was completely sold out. The cast included professional and Tony-nominated actors such as Laurie Thomas and Joanne Camp, and directed by Gil Lazier. Review: http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/alb/alb15.html

The play had its university premiere on 23 September 2010 in a unique co-production at Wright State University of that university's Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures and The Human Race Theatre Company of Dayton, Ohio. The production was the first co-production of its kind for this play, combining seven professional actors with six students (EMC candidates) in WSU's BFA Acting program, and played to over four thousand during its three week run in the Robert and Elaine Stein Auditorium on the Wright State campus. This production featured Susanne Marley as Violet Weston, a role she had played in the Broadway production, as well as Rainbow Dickerson, also from the Broadway production, as well as six students from the WSU undergraduate theatre program.

The play has its Dutch premiere on 1 May 2011 at the Stadsschouwburg Utrecht (Utrecht City Theatre) by theatre company De Utrechtse Spelen. It will be directed by Antoine Uitdehaag and stars Tjitske Reidinga, Peter Blok, Ria Eimers and Tom de Ket. The Dutch title is Augustus: Oklahoma.

It made its Florida premiere at Florida Repertory Theatre Company in Fort Myers in March 2011. On April, 20th, 2011 8 pm the show will kick off at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The play had its North Carolina regional premiere on August 25, 2011 at the Carolina Actors Studio Theatre in Charlotte.

It was chosen for the 2011 Graduation Production of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Taiwan University, premiering on May 11.

August: Osage County had its first college premiere at Western Illinois University on 20 April 2011. Due to a serious fall during its final week of rehearsal, the director had to step in for the lead and perform the role of Violet Weston.

The Spanish version of the play opened on December 7, 2011, in Madrid, with a cast including Amparo Baró as Violet and Carmen Machi as Barbara, among many others, directed by Gerardo Vera. The show closed on February 22, 2012, after a huge success.

In India, veteran theatre actor and director Lillete Dubey has directed a slightly adapted version of the play and has been touring with it in several Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. In the Indian version, while the name of the play and those of most characters remain the same, the narrative has been shifted to the Indian state of Goa. Many well-known Indian theatre and film actors have major roles in the play, with Dubey herself playing the role of Violet with Sandhya Mridul as Barbara, Kitu Gidwani as Mattie, Mita Vashisht as Karen and Suchitra Pillai as Ivy.

On April 17, 2012, Martin High School in Arlington, Texas became the first school to advance to the State UIL One Act Play Competition using August: Osage County. On May 23 they competed in Austin, TX. There, they placed 1st Runner Up behind Austin High School.

The amateur debut of the play was made by Hingham High School in Hingham, Massachusetts on May 4, 2012.

Imperium Theater in Leiden, The Netherlands, was the first amateur theater company outside the United States to perform the play, on May 12, 2012.

In August 2012, the production will have its Washington D.C. regional premiere at the Keegan Theatre.

Point Park University's REP Theater company at the Pittsburgh Playhouse will open their season with " August: Osage County"

The FOX Network's cartoon comedy series 'American Dad' did an over the top, metaphor-festooned satirical send up of the play's style as well as Clifford Odets' "Paradise Lost", called “Blood Crieth Unto Heaven” S8 / E11 (see a full review at http://www.avclub.com/articles/blood-crieth-unto-heaven,91222/).