Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, the cast featured Rick Snyder (Ken), Rondi Reed (Nancy) and Michael Shannon (Harry Brown).
[1] The play ran at the South Coast Repertory Theatre, Costa Mesa, California in March 2006, starring Brian Kerwin and Kathy Baker and directed by William Friedkin.
[2][4] The play premiered Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre, marking its New York debut, starting January 26, 2017 in previews, officially on February 15, 2017.
The cast features Reed Birney (Ken), Nana Mensah (Tamyra), Max Gordon Moore (Harry Brown), Annette O'Toole (Nancy Carpenter), Kathleen Peirce (Cammie Carpenter), William Ragsdale (Reverend Todd) and Heidi Armbruster (Pat).
[7] Ken Carpenter, previously a devoted Baptist, suddenly finds that he no longer believes in God.
In spite of his apparent lack of interest, Pat mentions that she might stop by Ken's hotel some time to see him.
Ken's daughter, Ashley, is extremely angry at her father and tells Nancy that if her husband ran off, she would have divorced him instantly.
Back in Nebraska for his mother's funeral, Ken speaks with Ashley, who is incredibly displeased with her father.
The TheatreMania reviewer wrote: "Letts has created two very intriguing characters in Ken and Nancy, but though he has provided a believable shock to their complacency, his follow-through is a letdown."
The Variety reviewer noted "[Letts] succeeds quite well at expressing the empty feelings of a man experiencing a crisis of faith, but is far less successful at finding drama or meaning — or just raw, abstract emotional power — in his search to fill this emptiness.
"[2][9][3] The Chicago Tribune reviewer noted, in a review of a local Chicago production in 2011 that the play is "... a bridge between the violent working-class gothic antics of Killer Joe and Bug and the epic angst-with-verbal-fireworks of the now-legendary "August: Osage County."