Kim Justis (center, as Barbara Fordham), tears into her pill-popping mother, played by Irene Crist, in Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play "August: Osage County," which ran this spring at Playhouse on the Square.
Folks who participate in the local theater scene often describe their tight-knit community as a "family," with the usual dysfunction that goes with it.
It seems fitting, therefore, that one of last season's most admired productions by both actors and ticket buyers was also about a dysfunctional family. And on Sunday evening, the Memphis family of actors, directors and designers will undoubtedly keep a watchful eye on the play's fictional family as the winners are announced at the 28th annual Ostrander Awards at the Memphis Botanic Garden's Hardin Hall.
Organized by Memphis Magazine and ArtsMemphis, the Ossies, like the Tonys of Broadway, honor the best performances and production values from the previous season.
It isn't unusual that one show emerges as a favorite with the judges, who evaluate upwards of 40 productions each year. But it's rarer that the favorite is a non-musical.
Playhouse on the Square's March production of the dramatic roller coaster "August: Osage County" garnered 12 total nominations, one more than Theatre Memphis' boffo song-and-dance spectacle "Crazy for You."
While it didn't out-sell the musicals at the box office, "August: Osage County" pulled in an unusually high attendance for a play.
"We weren't surprised at how good it turned out," said Playhouse's associate producer Michael Detroit, who was also cast in the show. "It had an excellent script, excellent production team, excellent cast. But you never know what a Memphis audience is going to buy tickets for, and a three-hour drama is not high on people's list."
Sure, "August: Osage County" won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for playwright Tracy Letts -- a draw for readers of the New York Times. But the play wasn't preceded by a popular movie adaptation, such as "Frost/Nixon." Nor was it penned by a household name like Neil Simon. The title itself reveals virtually nothing about the plot in which the disappearance of a washed-up poet prompts the return of his grown children to the family home, only to put them at odds with a drug-addicted mother and the cruel facts of their own failed relationships. The three-act family train wreck is sharply biting, but also extremely funny.
Still, it wasn't "Driving Miss Daisy."
"We could plan a whole season of smash hits and chestnuts," said Detroit, "but then we're not pursuing our mandate to produce thought-provoking and challenging shows. We just have to do our best with the plays we pick."
Most would agree that the reason the show did so well, both at the box office and with the Ostrander judges, was because Playhouse threw its top performers into the mix. Director Rob Satterlee, a former stage manager at Chicago's Steppenwolf who personally knows the playwright, picked most of his cast without auditions.
"Rob told us 'If you want me to do the show, I need certain really good people in it,'" Detroit said. "We all came in knowing the same shorthand. We've all worked together before."
Detroit says that the success of "August: Osage County" probably isn't a sign that future seasons will be packed with critical darlings and edgy new material. Audiences still expect a mix of old and new.
But when the Ossies are handed out on Sunday, actors and producers will likely wonder if they've got a chance against Playhouse when the company really takes advantage of its talent pool and resources.
Or else they'll be hoping that all of its nominations -- many in the same categories -- cancel each other out and underdogs emerge victorious. After all, thespians thrive on schadenfreude.
Either way, the ceremony may prove to be an intense family drama worthy of the local theater community.
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28th Annual Ostrander Awards
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the ceremony starts at 7 p.m. on Sunday in Hardin Hall of the Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road. Tickets are $10 at the door.
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