Learn about the production and movie history of 'August: Osage County'

Tracy Letts's award-winning family drama is getting a major West End revival in 2027, led by Lesley Manville and Anna Maxwell Martin.

Summary

• August: Osage County is being revived in the West End in 2027
• Lesley Manville and Anna Maxwell Martin will star in Jeremy Herrin's production
• Tracy Letts's acclaimed tragicomic play made its premiere in 2007
• It was turned into a Hollywood movie starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts

Get ready for family warfare to commence as Tracy Letts’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning tragicomic play August: Osage County makes a major return to the West End in 2027. Directed by Jeremy Herrin and led by the powerhouse duo of Lesley Manville and Anna Maxwell Martin, the show plays at London’s Noël Coward Theatre from 18 January.

August: Osage County centres on the deeply dysfunctional Weston clan, who reunite at their home in Oklahoma following the disappearance of patriarch Beverly, an alcoholic poet. The family members – including prescription drug-addicted mother Violet and eldest daughter Barbara, whose marriage is in trouble – are immediately at odds, especially as shocking secrets are revealed in this gripping, darkly funny masterpiece.

Get to know the production and movie history of the play ahead of your trip, and check back soon for August: Osage County tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

2007: Chicago premiere

August: Osage County made its official world premiere in a production by Steppenwolf Theare Company at the Downstairs Theatre in Chicago, running for around two months. Letts has a long association with the revered Steppenwolf company, both as an actor and a playwright. The original cast featured Deanna Dunagan, Amy Morton, Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed, Ian Barford, Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Mariann Mayberry, Sally Murphy, and Lett’s father, Dennis Letts.

2007: Broadway opening

The acclaimed play swiftly transferred to Broadway, although its premiere was temporarily halted by the stagehand strike. It finally had its official opening on 4 December and went on to run until 28 June 2009, for 648 performances and 18 previews, first at the Imperial Theatre and then the Music Box Theatre.

Most of the cast reprised their roles, as did director Anna D. Shapiro, and the production was hugely well received. It won five Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Direction, Best Actress for Dunagan, Best Featured Actress for Reed, and Best Scenic Design. Letts also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

2008: London opening

Letts’s play crossed the pond to make its UK debut at the National Theatre. Many of the cast came with it, but there were also new additions, including Paul Vincent O’Connor, Gary Cole, Chelcie Ross, and Molly Ranson. The play ran from 26 November 2008 to 21 January 2009, in the Lyttelton space, and was praised by critics. It was nominated for four Olivier Awards, winning one for Set Design, and also won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play.

2009: US national tour

Shortly after the show opened in London, it also went on the road in the US, beginning at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. One major cast change was Estelle Parsons (Oscar winner for Bonnie and Clyde, and later beloved for her role on TV sitcom Roseanne) taking over the role of Violet, and the cast also included Jon DeVries, Shannon Cochran, and Libby George.

2009: International productions

It soon became apparent that this family drama had global resonance. It played at Tel Aviv’s Habima Theatre, in Israel, starring Gila Almagor, and – the same year – also made its Puerto Rican and Australian premieres in, respectively, San Juan and Melbourne. Gladys Rodríguez played Violet in Puerto Rico and Robyn Nevin took on the role in Australia.

August: Osage County has gone on to play in numerous other countries, including Norway, Peru, Uruguay, New Zealand, Poland, the Netherlands, and Romania. There was a landmark Catalan-language production in 2010. It seems to be a particular favourite in Australia, playing in Sydney (with the original Steppenwolf cast) in 2010, and again in 2024, starring Pamela Rabe.

2013: Film adaptation

Hollywood came calling in 2013, with producers including George Clooney bringing Letts’s play to the screen – and with an all-star cast. Meryl Streep led the pack as Violet, with Julia Roberts as Barbara, Ewan McGregor as Bill, Chris Cooper as Charles Aiken Sr., Abigail Breslin as Jean, Benedict Cumberbatch as “Little Charles”, Juliette Lewis as Karen, Margo Martindale as Mattie Fae, Dermot Mulroney as Steve, Julianne Nicholson as Ivy, Misty Upham as Johnna, and Sam Shepard as Beverly.

The movie was adapted by Letts himself and directed by E.R. and West Wing legend John Wells. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was a moderate commercial success, making $74.2 million at the box office. Streep and Roberts were both nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

2027: West End revival

London theatregoers now have the very exciting prospect of a brilliant new cast tackling this blistering comic drama. So far, we know that Olivier- and Tony Award-winning Lesley Manville (Oedipus, Les Liaisons Dangereuses) will play the juicy role of Violet, and she’ll be sparring with Bafta winner Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House, Motherland) as daughter Barbara.

This West End revival, which runs at the Noël Coward Theatre, is directed by Olivier winner Jeremy Herrin (Every Brilliant Thing, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, People, Places & Things), who previously worked with Manville on The Visit at the National Theatre. It will be absolutely fascinating to see how this team interprets a modern American classic.

Check back for August: Osage County tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Main photo credit: Artwork for the 2027 production of August: Osage County (Courtesy of the production). Inset: The National Theatre production, the 2013 film (Photos by Michael Brosilow, courtesy of the movie)