BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
The race is between two tigers: Deanna Dunagan, the bitchy mother in "August," and Amy Morton, her equally bitchy daughter. I give the edge to Dunagan, though a tie is possible.
If Morton pulls off an upset, I bet she leans over to Dunagan and hisses: "I told you to eat that f - - - ing fish, bitch."
- Michael Riedel, that vociferously read and reviled NY Post columnist, making his Tony picks
Friday, June 13, 2008
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3 comments:
I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Riedel regarding his description of Amy Morton's character as "bitchy." I felt a tremendous amount of sympathy for her character throughout the play. She's the one working hardest to juggle all of her family obligations. The woman is definitely stressed out. Although in the end, I think Dunagan should get the Tony, because she brought Tracy Letts' words alive in a way I could never have imagined simply from reading them on the printed page.
It's a fine line there. Barbara almost becomes Violet and in that I think we find where people might mistake her for bitchy. What is really going on is she is a middle aged woman who is rejected by her husband and daughter and loses the father she so desperately wanted to please. All this and trying to keep the family in some semblance of order is enough to try any person.
But revisiting the play, I find that Barbara is really the heart that grounds the piece. Deanna's Violet is the flashier role (and is actually shorter in stage time) that drives the piece. Each complements the other so impeccably. They make it such a tennis volley of dramatic pyrotechnics that I am now kinda pulling for that tie ;)
Oh but that last scene. My God.
I'll be there for Deanna and Rondi's last on Sunday.
Good points, and I definitely agree that a tie would be the perfect outcome.
What really impresed me about "August" is the way Tracy Letts really explores the presures on women's lives, especially women like Barbara. I definitely empathized with what she's going through, and with Ivy's feeling of abandonment by her sisters as they went off and lived their lives while she dealt with their parents. He's written five remarkable roles for women. The men, by comparison, do get a bit short-changed, I think.
You're so lucky to be seeing Deanna and Rondi's final performance. Let us know if they do anything special at the curtain call to mark the occasion.
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