Mathoms, etc.

After dinner at Won Dee Siam II (There is the smaller but cheaper and apparently more superior Won Dee Siam in the next block.), Mike and I went to see August: Osage County last night upon Pinky's enthusiastic recommendations. I was a little apprehensive because it's 3 and a half hours long, and it is a play rather than a musical. But the story is so riveting you don't feel the hours go by. You almost didn't want an intermission (there were 2) just to find out what happened next.

'August' is the story of the über dysfunctional Westons of Oklahoma. The alcoholic father Beverly vanishes one night, and his family is left to deal with the repercussions. His ferocious drug-addled wife Violet, who is prone to "truth-telling" as she calls it, proceeds to tear into each and every one of her 3 daughters as they come home. Lugging their husbands or boyfriends along for the bumpy ride, one devastating family secret after another is revealed.

The play is so well-written; the humor is biting but ultimately sad. You laugh out loud and cringe at the same time. You watch as one daughter deteriorates into a hybrid version of her drunk father and vicious mother, and the other sister is not afraid to let her know that. It is a heartbreaking look at how much damage people can inflict on one another. And it makes you thankful that your family is normal after all.