Tracy Letts Wins Pulitzer For 'August: Osage County'

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is very proud to announce The Pulitzer Prize Board has awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama to Steppenwolf ensemble member Tracy Letts' critically-acclaimed American play August: Osage County.

August: Osage County, a "darkly funny family drama" directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, is currently enjoying an open engagement on Broadway, following its sold-out run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2007.

When their patriarch vanishes, the Weston clan must return to their three-story home in rural Oklahoma to get to the heart of the matter.  With rich insight and brilliant humor, Letts paints a vivid portrait of a Midwestern family at critical turning point.

Tracy Letts became a Steppenwolf ensemble member in 2002 and is an artistic associate. He is the author of Man from Nebraska, which was produced at Steppenwolf in 2003 and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize; Killer Joe, which has been produced in Chicago, London and New York; and Bug, which has played in New York, Chicago and London.  His newest play, Superior Donuts, will have its world premiere at Steppenwolf in June 2008.  Mr. Letts has appeared at Steppenwolf in Betrayal, The Pillowman, Last of the Boys, The Pain and the Itch, The Dresser, Homebody/Kabul, The Dazzle, Glengarry Glen Ross (also Dublin and Toronto), Three Days of Rain, Road to Nirvana, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Glass Menagerie.  He appeared in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Alliance Theatre Company) directed by ensemble member Amy Morton.  Previous Chicago stage credits include The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (A Red Orchid Theatre), Conquest of the South Pole (Famous Door), Bouncers (the Next Lab) and his directorial debut at the Lookingglass Theatre with Great Men of Science Nos. 21 and 22.  He has appeared on television in The District, Profiler, Prison Break, The Drew Carey Show, Seinfeld and Home Improvement. Film appearances include Guinevere, U.S. Marshals and Chicago Cab.

August: Osage County opened on Broadway Tuesday, December 4, 2007.  The original Broadway cast is as follows: Ian Barford, Deanna Dunagan, Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Brian Kerwin, Dennis Letts, Madeleine Martin, Mariann Mayberry, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy, Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed, Troy West, Munson Hicks, Susanne Marley, Jay Patterson, Dee Pelletier, Molly Ranson, Aaron Serotsky and Kristina Valada-Viars.  The design team includes Todd Rosenthal (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Ann Wrightson (lights), Richard Woodbury (sound) and David Singer (original music).

August: Osage County was voted #1 play of the year by Time, The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and TimeOut New York.  Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called August: Osage County, "The most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years."  Joe Dziemianowicz of New York Daily New" says "Letts' perspective is bracingly fresh. You're laughing hysterically one minute and appalled the next."  Clive Barnes of The New York Post writes "August is One Hot Drama."

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is presented annually to a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.  For more information, go to www.pulitzer.org.

August: Osage County will play its last performance at The Imperial Theatre (245 West 45th Street) on Sunday, April 20th at 3:00 p.m. and will reopen at The Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street ) on Tuesday, April 29th at 7:30 p.m.  August: Osage County performs Tuesdays - Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.  Tickets can be purchased at Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. Outside the New York Metro area call (800) 432-7250.

The commercial production is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler and Jerry Frankel, in association with Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Martha Lavey, Artistic Director; David Hawkanson, Executive Director).

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon.  The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work.  Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of forty-one artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.

For more information on Steppenwolf Theatre Company, go to www.steppenwolf.org.