Those closest to you hurt you most. Tracy Letts based a tragicomic family drama on that adage and Toneelhuis, KVS and NTGent have joined forces to stage it. They drop down on a pitch-dark stage a first-rate cast sputtering verbal fireworks and come up trumps.
Performances will take place at KVS (BOL) on September 4th and 5th.
From the jury’s report:
"AUGUSTUS ergens op de vlakte (August: Osage County). Can you, are you allowed to stage what can hardly be described as a ground-breaking tragicomic family drama like August: Osage County by the American author, as if the Flemish Wave had never happened in Flanders? Olympique Dramatique took great pleasure in dropping its trousers at so many dos and don’ts and contracted the three city theatres KVS, Toneelhuis and NTGent to once again turn its simple appetite for acting into a veritable feast.
Directors Stijn Van Opstal and Tom Dewispelaere are in excellent company. Gilda De Bal is magnificent as the wife mourning her late husband. Daughters Sofie Decleir, Els Dottermans and Mieke De Groote roll their eyes behind her back. For once the women rule the roost. AUGUSTUS ergens op de vlakte helps us remember that close-knit, lively ensemble acting is sacrosanct in theatre, particularly in an environment forced to economize on the number of actors on stage. All too few of these sort of productions, magnanimous in their recognizability and damned well acted, are made today."
