August: Osage County that just opened at the Ellie Calkins is 3-hours of powerful testimony to the dark-side of the upward mobility of the American Dream.

Violet and Beverly Weston married, built a home, and raised a family of 3 girls, and then spent year after year trapped in a loveless coexistence of alcoholism and drug addiction. August: Osage County is like a 12-step meeting when the family comes to grips with it's bottom.

Violet is powerless in her delusion of strength. She pushes away those who would help her, she's an isolated, lonely individual falling fall short of the great person she had the potential to be. "I can take care of it myself," alternates with "why don't you help me."

The play is powerful testimony for the need we each have for community and healthy relationships, and a graphic illustration of what happens when they are missing from our life.

We leave the theatre not whistling but thinking, the play forces us to ask, "where am I now, and what am I going to do with the rest of my life?"

Denver Post review: http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment_old/ci_12901886