Perhaps because the more striking/memorable elements of the show overwhelm it, but I can't recall a single review (or board-poster, but I could be wrong) mentioning the moment in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY when Little Charles plays his song he wrote for Ivy on the harmonium.
Seeing the show again yesterday reminded me what a powerful, moving moment it is. Not only is it a representation of the one untarnished, unabashedly loving relationship on display, it's also perhaps the single moment of serene quiet in the whole three and a half hours.
Until Mattie Fae interrupts with "Liberace, get yourself together, we're heading back," it's really our only moment bereft of striking revelations, uproarious laughter or overwhelming sadness. I was just wondering if it struck as much of a chord for anyone else, as I never really hear mention made of it... Updated On: 8/29/08 at 07:42 PM
I finally saw the show tonight for the first time, and also thought the moment was quite touching (and surprising, since I had read the script and didn't remember that part. Is it new?)
Although it is quite a tender moment, I actually find that it is the one time that the forward momentum of the play comes to an almost complete stop. I am sure that was Letts' intent, as he has so much control throughout.
I loved the song, especially the way geeky, huge-headed but weirdly sexy Ian Barford sang it.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
"Although it is quite a tender moment, I actually find that it is the one time that the forward momentum of the play comes to an almost complete stop."
Just curious, is that necessarily a negative thing? To me, it's the one time we get to take a breather, a break from emotional exhaustion, and it's almost impossibly moving as such... until later revelations render it more sad than happy.
So pardon my ignorance, is the song he sings a known song? I thought Letts might have composed it himself. Guess not.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"