Pamela Rabe, who memorably played cruel prison governor Joan “The Freak” Ferguson in television’s Wentworth, tackles a very different performance in the Perth production of Black Swan Theatre’s August: Osage County.
Pamela says Osage County is probably the best piece of American writing in the 21st century.
The WA premiere of Tracy Lett’s Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play comes to Perth following a hit Sydney season to the Heath Ledger Theatre in association with the Perth Festival.
The play runs from Thursday, February 27 to Sunday March 16 and features an cast of 13 of Australia’s most experienced actors.
In the play Pamela plays Violet Weston, the matriarch of the family whose husband, Beverly Weston (Geoff Kelso), goes missing.
It necessitates a reunion of the family, who all descend on the Weston household and the play ensues from there.
“I describe Violet as one of the great theatre monsters, but she’s an extraordinarily complex creature,” Pamela says. “Incredibly damaged, lethal, animal smart, and a powerful tongue and a very powerful hold and impact on her offspring, on her world, really.
“It’s an extraordinary piece of writing. I’ve seen it a number of times on stage.”
Pamela is joined on stage by Anna Samson, currently appearing in ABC TV’s Return to Paradise; Caroline Brazier (Things I Know To Be True, Mary Stuart); Geoff Kelso (The Seed, The Pool); Amy Mathews (Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Toast); Hayley McElhinney (Dirty Birds, Oil); Ben Mortley (York, Laughter on the 23rd Floor); Will O’Mahony (Things I Know To Be True, Assassins); and Rohan Nichol (Plainsong, Red Dog), plus Bert LaBonté, Bee Cruse, Greg Stone and Esther Williams.
The show is described as a caustic, darkly funny study of a family in meltdown, taking an honest look at addiction, personal failure and the complex relationships we have with those closest to us.
“I think it probably stands alongside Angels in America as one of the great epic pieces of American theatre for the past 50 years,” Pamela says.
“It’s written by Tracy Letts who created it for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, who he performs with.
It’s set in the home of the Weston family in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, which is part of Osage County, Oklahoma.
“I saw Simon Phillips’ production for the Melbourne Theatre Company a decade ago,” said Pamela.
“But to see this play work on an audience now, particularly given current events, you realise what a classic it is. It’s an extraordinary piece, and a great opportunity for both performers and audience alike.
“It’s rare to see more than a few actors on a stage in a show. To be able to have 13 actors on a stage, and it’s not a musical, is a special event.”
Pamela says it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, and the Tony Award. And it’s just recently been awarded the Best MainStage Production of 2024 in the Sydney Theatre Awards, as well as Best Director for Eamon Flack.
“Tamsin Carroll and I shared Best Actress for this production.
“We knew it was a special play when we were working on it, but to feel the impact on an audience from the very first preview, when that audience catapulted out of their seats to a standing ovation, is to feel the real magic of the way that play works.”
It is a bit different to her role in Wentworth although Pamela says she enjoys moving between theatre and television.
“It was a pretty lucky experience, but even so, we only filmed for five or so months a year, which meant that I was able to do theatre around that. I was constantly directing and performing in plays, and doing other jobs around that Wentworth experience.
“It’s amazing the number of fans of that Wentworth show who came to see August: at Osage County in Sydney.
Pamela’s other most recent credits include The Cherry Orchard, Dance of Death, Ghosts and The Glass Menagerie for Belvoir.
She has recently returned from performing in the National Theatre UK/Alexander Zeldin Company’s production of The Confessions in Europe.
She was recently recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her distinguished services to the Arts.
Tickets – https://blackswantheatre.com.au
