August: Osage County

The play takes place in Beverly and Violet Weston’s large, tri-level, century-old house near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The set, which is fixed, shows a cross section of the first and second floors and the attic, each of which are playing spaces. There are books everywhere, and the windows have been covered with shades that are held in place by duct tape. The Prologue opens in Beverly’s first-floor study, where Beverly is meeting with Johnna Monevata, an Indigenous woman in her mid-twenties who is interviewing for a job as a live-in housekeeper and caregiver. Beverly, who is 69, pontificates about literature and T. S. Eliot. He explains that he drinks too much, and his wife, Violet, who is 65, takes too many pills. Neither has any inclination to quit, so Beverly has decided to hire someone to help around the house.

Beverly knew Johnna’s father, whom Johnna says has since died of a heart attack. Her father went by the name Youngbird, while Johnna’s last name, Monevata, means Youngbird in their original language. Violet calls from offstage before stumbling in, high on narcotic painkillers. She addresses both her husband and Johnna incoherently, mocking Beverly and curtsying prettily for Johnna before staggering out again. Beverly explains that they keep unusual hours, and the job will include taking care of Violet, who has been diagnosed with mouth cancer. Johnna is agreeable as she needs the work, having quit nursing school after a year due to her father’s death. Beverly gives her a book of T. S. Eliot’s poems, adding that she is not required to read it for the job.

It is several weeks later. In the living room, Ivy, Violet’s daughter; Mattie Fae, Violet’s sister; and Charlie, Mattie Fae’s husband have gathered because Beverly has been missing for five days. Charlie is drinking a beer and watching baseball on television with the sound turned down. Mattie Fae points out that Beverly has disappeared before and come back, at which point she had advised Violet to kick him out and burn his books and belongings if he does it again. Mattie Fae and Charlie argue about this advice, and Mattie Fae insists that she would do the same to Charlie, except he doesn’t have any books because he never reads. Ivy thinks that this disappearance is different, and Mattie Fae agrees. Charlie comments that Beverly is complicated, and their son, Little Charles, is complicated in a similar way. Mattie Fae insults her son, stating, “Honey, you have to be smart to be complicated” (20), and Charlie defends him. The house is sweltering, and they ask Ivy about the taped window coverings, which Ivy explains have been up for about two years. Mattie Fae is stunned to realize that she hasn’t been to her sister’s house for at least that long. Ivy remarks that the shades were likely her mother’s doing. Charlie is surprised to discover that Violet owns an Eric Clapton album. Mattie Fae starts to peel the window shades off, but Charlie stops her.

Violet, who was on the phone in the other room, enters. She spoke to Sheriff Gilbeau, who has checked all the hospitals for Beverly. Gilbeau’s name is familiar, as his father went to school with Mattie Fae and Violet and was a terrible bully who grew up to be a criminal. The now-sheriff, Deon, was in school with Ivy and her sisters. The sheriff also informed Violet that Beverly’s boat is missing. Charlie tries to be optimistic by suggesting that he might have simply taken the boat somewhere, but Beverly’s boat trailer is still there. Violet exits upstairs, followed by Ivy. Charlie asks Johnna for another beer. Mattie Fae chastises him for treating her like a waitress, but Johnna stoically takes his empty bottle and goes to the kitchen. Mattie Fae complains that Charlie is drinking and enjoying a game during such a serious time, and Charlie points out that Mattie Fae is drinking whiskey, which she asserts is different. Mattie Fae convinces Charlie to go to the kitchen with her to see what Johnna is cooking. Charlie reluctantly agrees, and they exit as Charlie comments that the information about the boat is not a good sign.

Lights rise on the second floor, where Violet interrogates Ivy about the conversation in which Ivy told her sister, Barbara, about their missing father. She asks how and when Barbara will be arriving. During the scene, they travel downstairs. Frustrated and swallowing painkillers, Violet curses Beverly for leaving her with a mess and Johnna, “a stranger in [her] house” (25). Ivy notes that she also called her sister Karen, although Violet scoffs that she won’t be any more helpful than Ivy. Violet starts to pick at Ivy for her lack of make-up and for being 40 and single. Violet only has disdain for Barry, Ivy’s last boyfriend, who was a professor at the college where Ivy works. Violet takes more pills, admitting that her mouth hurts, adding that she’s scared and appreciates Ivy’s presence. Ivy asks about the Clapton album, and Violet exclaims that she likes it and isn’t that old. Outside, Barbara arrives with her husband Bill. They are waiting for their 14-year-old daughter, Jean, as she smokes a cigarette. Barbara accuses Bill of encouraging the habit and even thinking Jean is cool, which Bill denies.

Barbara complains about the heat, knowing that Violet won’t turn on the air conditioner. She tells Bill about the time Violet bought a parakeet, which the pet store replaced after it died quickly. Violet killed three parakeets before the store sent someone to investigate and discovered that they were dying from the heat. Barbara wonders why the people who settled the area thought that this “flat hot nothing” (29) was worth murdering Indigenous people. They exchange quips and laughter, and Bill attempts to initiate a tender moment, but Barbara stops him and backs away. Jean finally joins them, and they go into the house. Mattie Fae and Charlie greet them cheerfully, exclaiming loudly that Jean has grown, and her breasts are enormous. Violet and Ivy enter, and Violet breaks down into tears as she embraces Barbara. Then she cries in Bills arms, observing that he has lost too much weight. Ivy remains on the stairs, standing away from the warm reunion until Barbara notices her. Violet announces that she needs Barbara and Bill’s help to look through the mess Beverly left, and Mattie Fae mentions that she and Charlie have to go home tonight to take care of their dogs. But Violet insists that they stay. Barbara suggests that Jean sleep in the attic, but Violet exclaims that it's occupied by “what’s-her-name, […] the Indian who lives in [her] attic” (34). Unperturbed, Johnna introduces herself, adding, “Welcome home” (34).

In the dining room, Violet, Barbara, and Bill are having dessert. Violet’s painkillers are beginning to take effect. Slurring, Violet explains that she had eaten breakfast with Beverly on Saturday morning, and then he had left. Violet assumed he went out drinking, but by Sunday, he hadn’t returned, and Violet was worrying. She was also thinking about their safety deposit box, which confuses Barbara, but Violet explains that she and Beverly had agreed that if anything happened to either of them, the other should empty their safety deposit box to avoid having its contents go into probate as part of the estate. So Violet had waited until Monday, once she could go to the bank, to report Beverly missing. Barbara presses Violet for a reason or a sign that suggested why he had left, but Violet asserts that although they fought, fighting was normal for them. The only odd thing Beverly had done was to hire Johnna without asking Violet. She calls Johnna a stranger and refers to her repeatedly as an “Indian.” Barbara corrects Violet that she should call her a “Native American,” but Violet insists that she is just as native as they are. Conversation shifts to Violet accusing Barbara of never visiting. Barbara disagrees, and Violet claims that Barbara was Beverly’s favorite child, and she had broken his heart by moving away to Colorado.

Barbara argues that her father would have understood why she had to leave, as they had moved for job offers in academia, and Beverly would have done the same. Violet argues that Beverly had passed on many academic offers after he published his acclaimed book of poetry, Meadowlark, but Barbara counters that academia has changed in the 40 years since the book came out. Barbara notices Violet’s slurred speech and accuses her of being high on pills, having helped her mother through the expensive rehab and sobriety process before. Violet claims that they’re only muscle relaxers, but then she breaks down, crying that her mouth hurts from the cancer and her husband is missing. Barbara relents, and Violet complains that Barbara had hurried home when Beverly went missing, but she hadn’t come home when Violet was diagnosed with cancer. Barbara apologizes, adding that she thinks Beverly just took his boat along with some whiskey and cigarettes to some quiet spot to be alone.

In the attic, Johnna reads the T. S. Eliot book that Beverly gave her. Jean enters, looking for a place to smoke weed. She asks if Johnna would like to smoke with her, which Johnna declines. She then asks if Johnna minds if she smokes there. Johnna hesitates, but Jean reassures her that her parents don’t care if she smokes weed. Johnna agrees, and Jean jokes that they would probably have minded if they knew that she had smuggled the weed onto the plane. Jean adds that her mom minds a little that she smokes, but she thinks that’s mostly because her dad doesn’t. Jean takes a hit and offers it to Johnna again, who says no. Jean reveals that her parents are separated, which is currently a secret. Her father has been sleeping with one of his students. Jean’s mother has been watching Jean closely, afraid that she might act out by getting into harder drugs or losing her virginity. Jean asks about Johnna’s parents and apologizes profusely when she learns that they’re dead. Jean tells Johnna that when Barbara had learned of her father’s disappearance, she had fallen apart in a way that Jean had never seen. Jean compliments Johnna’s necklace, which she learns contains her umbilical cord. According to Cheyenne tradition, if she loses it, when she dies, her soul will wander the earth with nowhere to belong.

In the living room, Barbara opens the sofa bed. Bill enters with a copy of Meadowlark, musing that an original hardcopy edition might be worth money. Although the book was widely acclaimed when it was published in the 1960s and had won several prestigious awards, Beverly never published anything again. Bill wonders if he stopped writing due to the pressure of such an esteemed first work. Annoyed, Barbara exclaims that pressure from critics wasn’t to blame for her father’s lack of output. She adds bitterly that she assumes that Bill takes his angst about publishing to the student he’s having sex with so she can comfort him. Bill asserts that dealing with Violet always puts Barbara on the offensive. Jean enters unseen and eavesdrops on her parents. They argue, and Bill counters Barbara’s anger by staying irksomely calm. Bill suggests that they save this conversation for a more appropriate time, and that once Barbara’s father comes home, they’ll both be in a better headspace for the discussion. Barbara spits back, “My father’s dead, Bill” (48).

Just before six the following morning, the house is dark except for the flashing of police lights from outside. Johnna quietly wakes Barbara and Bill to tell them that the sheriff is at the door. Johnna asks if she should wake Violet, and Barbara says she should. Jean enters to see what is happening and ignores her parents’ directive to go back to bed. Violet enters, slurring her words and largely incoherent. Sheriff Deon Gilbeau enters and Barbara, dazed, comments that she knows him. The sheriff informs them that Beverly’s body has been found. He was hooked by some fishermen and determined to have drowned. Someone needs to identify the body. Bill volunteers, but Gilbeau says that it needs to be a blood relative. Jean offers, but Barbara interjects that she’ll do it. Jean follows her to get dressed. Gilbeau tells Bill that there’s no way to know if he died by suicide or accidentally.

Gilbeau adds that Bill ought to prepare Barbara to see Beverly’s body, which has been in the water for three days and is significantly decomposed and partially eaten by fish. As Barbara gets dressed, she tells Jean that she dated the sheriff in high school. He had asked her to go to prom, but his father went on a bender and drove off in his car. Deon was upset and apologetic, but Barbara suggested they walk. They gave up part-way, dirty and sweaty, and spent the evening together drinking beer and kissing. Soberly, Barbara tells Jean that she doesn’t care what else she does, as long as Jean agrees to outlive her. Jean promises to try. Seeing Gilbeau, Violet slurs that Beverly is home. She asks him for a cigarette. He gives her one. Smoking, she puts on an Eric Clapton record and starts dancing awkwardly as the rest of the family stares.