August: Osage County

About August: Osage County

August: Osage County is a darkly comedic play by Tracy Letts. It was the recipient of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in 2007. It had its Broadway debut at the Imperial Theater on December 4, 2007, and the production transferred to the Music Box Theatre on April 29, 2008. The Broadway show closed on June 28, 2009, after 648 performances and 18 previews.

The show was originally produced in 2007 by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company at the Downstairs Theatre in Chicago. The Broadway production began previews on October 30, 2007, at the Imperial Theatre only days before the 2007 Broadway stagehand strike on November 10 which temporarily closed most shows on Broadway. The Broadway debut used much of cast from Steppenwolf in Chicago, and opened to receive wide acclaim. Both the Steppenwolf and Broadway productions were directed by Anna D. Shapiro.

The play won 5 Tony Awards – Best Play, Best Leading Actress in a Play (Deanna Dunagan), Best Featured Actress in a Play (Rondi Reed), Best Direction of a Play (Anna D Shapiro), and Best Scenic Design of a Play (Todd Rosenthal). August: Osage County also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2008.

The show has traveled the world and made into a film in 2013 with Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes and 2 Academy Awards.