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| - It is really hard to base a review on a theater company's entire body of work on having seen one show, but if this production is an accurate representation of the quality of work overall, then this is one of the rare theater companies in Pittsburgh that is not only worth watching, but worth paying their ticket price for.
For several years now, I've been accompanying my best friend to her season subscription at the Public Theatre, and have been extremely let down by the quality of the productions, As someone commented on my review of the Public, it is duller than drying paint beige theater.
The very first play I saw at Pittsburgh Irish and Classical was electric, but in the few years I've occasionally attended their other productions, they've been very hot and cold, and their very name restricts the kind of theater productions that they can do. And it's not always worth the exorbitant ticket prices they charge.
But I signed up for the e-mails from the Pittsburgh Playhouse (which is about the ONLY way to learn about theater productions here - sign up for EACH theater's e-mails - because no one seems to do much marketing beyond that, and the local media certainly doesn't help much for the local arts) and saw that they were presenting 'August: Osage County'...and that the tickets were $24. So we decided to give them a try.
And we're damned glad that we did. This was a top notch VERY high production value presentation, of a superbly written and award laden script.
The casting was local, and the cream of the crop of local actors. The set was beautiful and functional, and the direction gave the play the exact spark and airborn sizzle that live theater often misses out on in Pittsburgh. This was a three act LONG play that didn't have us nodding off after 40 minutes...which I can NOT say for the 90 minute no-intermission plays that I've seen at the Public.
I will also say that the local casting wasn't just a list of 'Equity' professionals, with a few Point Park or CMU students as low-budget 'filler'. Every role on that stage was performed by someone who knew what they were doing, and they all did it perfectly well.
As I mentioned, hard to base an entire body of work on seeing one play - but if this one play is an accurate representation, then this is a theater to get on their e-mail list - and with their affordable ticket prices, it's not so 'scary' to take a chance on their productions.
The only downfall is the location, which has been pretty much forgotten by the Pittsburgh 'development' geniuses, except of course for UPMC, which has surrounded the one time 'arts' block with behemoth medical facilities. There is limited parking nearby, and there is absolutely nothing to eat within walking distance. Not so problematic if you have a car, but not so easy to plan anything else if you rely on public transportation, or in my friend's case, the Access vans for the disabled. They do have a cafe of sorts, but it's pretty much a generic Starbuck's without the Starbuck's.
The theater is ancient. I was there two hundred years ago as a child, and it really looks at though nothing has been changed in the auditorium (except of course the name, which now bears the name of the most recent wealthy donor) since I was there in fourth grade. But that's what an old theater SHOULD be. For me, a true live theater LOVER, it isn't about the atmosphere, it's about the quality of what I'm watching AND paying for.
This was a locally produced play worth paying for, a rarity in da burgh. And we look forward to exploring further!
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