Steppenwolf's Letts wins Pulitizer for 'August'
Tracy Letts' first two plays put him on the radar. His third earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2004. His fourth, "August: Osage County," a blazing, fiercely comic depiction of the American family in all its ragged glory that premiered last July at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, secured him the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Announced Monday by Columbia University in New York, the Pulitzers -- representing achievement in journalism, arts and letters -- are the most prestigious awards of their kind.
Letts' first two plays, the pulp drama "Killer Joe" and the horror-romance "Bug" shocked and intrigued. His third, "Man From Nebraska," suggested he was a force to be reckoned with.
More Coverage Video August: Osage County
"August," his fourth, invited comparisons to Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. The play centers around a toxic reunion sparked by the disappearance of the Weston family patriarch. The relatives converge upon the family's Oklahoma farmhouse where they reveal the addictions, infidelities and failures that bind them together and tear them apart.
It earned nearly universal acclaim upon its Chicago premiere, and the raves continued after it transferred to Broadway last fall. An extension will keep the play on Broadway through early July at least. The play promises to figure prominently when Tony Award nominations are announced next month.
A Steppenwolf ensemble member since 2002, Letts makes success look easy.
It's anything but.
"Nothing about (playwriting) feels easy," said Letts, an Oklahoma native who has called Chicago home for more than 20 years. "They're all hard work. Every one felt like pulling a steamship over a mountain."
Long before the whispers about awards surfaced, Steppenwolf artistic director Martha Lavey knew "August," developed as part of Steppenwolf's New Plays Initiative, was something special.
"It was very obvious that it was a work of stature," she said upon reading the play for the first time. "It has a deep, knowing compassion about the human condition and this wonderful collision of sorrow and irreverent humor, which is where the human heart lives."
Letts heard the talk. So did everyone else.
"My father was convinced of this win some months ago," said Letts of his father Dennis, who originated the role of family patriarch Beverly Weston. Dennis Letts, who played the role on Broadway until January, died of cancer in February, making Monday's announcement bittersweet.
Letts ignored the buzz. But he couldn't ignore the reaction.
"Pretty early in previews we were feeling the audience's response and it was far beyond what we anticipated," he said. "We knew we were connecting with audiences in a profound way."
Letts' plays also resonate with actors.
"Every line is like a diamond that has been forged in the earth," says actor Michael Shannon, who has known Letts for 17 years, originated roles in his first three plays and starred in the film version of "Bug."
"He understands the actor is going to meet him halfway," Shannon said. "He'll put something out there that needs to be interpreted, and he trusts the actor to do that."
Like Lavey, "August" director Anna Shapiro was taken with the play from the first draft but never imagined it would have this impact.
"I thought my pal had written a beautiful play and we had good people doing it," she said.
Shapiro responded to Monday's announcement with the laid-back enthusiasm characteristic of the Steppenwolf crew.
To that end, it was business as usual on Halsted Street, where a read-through of Letts' "Superior Donuts," which begins previews in June, took place Monday afternoon, just after the award was announced.
The Pulitzer might confirm Chicago as "the center of the American theater universe," says Shapiro, but "it didn't tell us anything we didn't know."
"We do exciting work in Chicago, and we support our artists," she said. "Tracy would be the first to say that he's a Chicago artist, not a Steppenwolf artist."