Cardinal Stage Company premieres ‘August: Osage County’

Bloomington’s Cardinal Stage Company premiered its production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play “August: Osage County” Nov. 2 at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium.

The play is part of Cardinal’s 2013-14 season, titled “The Ties that Bind,” and will run until Nov. 17.

“August: Osage County” is a black comedy theater piece written by acclaimed screenwriter Tracy Letts. It centers around three daughters and their overbearing mother reuniting as a dysfunctional family.

Cardinal’s production was directed by Randy White and starred Diane Dorsey and Constance Macy as the lead roles of Violet Weston and Barbara Fordham, respectively.

White said helping create this play took serious work, including coordinating the set and the cast.

“This is a very famous play in this day and age that everyone knows and expects highly of, so accuracy was purely efficient,” White said. “Making it was innovative in every way imaginable, and it is something that will leave audience members on the edge of their seats for the duration of the play.”

Cardinal’s sales and marketing manager Heidi Harmon said ticket sales for the opening weekend dates of the show were peaking to the point of being sold out, with the Saturday night show selling out.

The cast received a standing ovation at the end of the Saturday night show.

One of the attendees, Vivien Lancaster, said she has been a fan of the play ever since reading the script and seeing it on Broadway in New York City.

She said her expectations were exceeded by Cardinal’s production.

“It is as if the script came alive in a triumphant matter before our eyes,” Lancaster said. “It was as if the actors had lost themselves in their roles and just became a slave to the luminous storyline.”