August: Osage County

The Westons are an Oklahoma family with some major league problems. Violet, the family matriarch, is sharp-tongued and cruel when not gobbling up pills -- and even tougher to handle when she's downing them by the fistful. Patriarch Beverly is a poet whose metier is now alcohol. Their three daughters are, respectively, stuck in a bad marriage, approaching spinsterhood and about to enter a bad marriage. Normally they all avoid each other, but when Beverly goes missing, the family rallies together partially for comfort, as well as to stick in the knives they've been sharpening for each other for quite some time. Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize winning drama August: Osage County offers a long glance into the dark world of an American family as it circles the bowl. St. Louis Actors' Studio continues its tenth season with August: Osage County. Performances take place at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (April 14 to 30) at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue; www.stlas.org). Tickets are $30 to $35.