August: Osage County

The house described in the stage directions is imposing and decrepit, symbolizing the strong influence of the Weston family’s demons from the past to the present. It is an enormous house with three floors and a front porch, and it is defined by its history:

A rambling country house outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma, sixty miles northwest of Tulsa. More than a century old, the house was probably built by a clan of successful Irish homesteaders. Additions, renovations and repairs have essentially modernized the house until 1972 or so, when all structural care ceased (9).

Like the house, Violet and Beverly stagnated as a couple in around 1972, a couple of years after Little Charles was born. It was built around 1907, which is right after the Osage Nation was forced to divide their land into individual parcels, which is how Irish homesteaders would have been able to acquire the land. It isn’t clear how long the house has been in the family, but the three Weston sisters grew up there. For years, Violet and Beverly have been largely alone in the house, neglecting its upkeep and accumulating clutter. Violet insists on making the house so hot that it’s uninhabitable, especially at the height of summer when the play takes place.