Dina Brophy is one of the best actors in
Billings. Her portrayal of Barbara Weston is piercing, moving,
hilarious, and very, very real. We took a moment to talk with
her experience in Tracy Letts’ play, August: Osage County.
1. Tell me about your character. How does your character fit
with the Weston Family? What attracted you to audition for this
play?
I play the oldest Weston daughter, Barbara
Fordham. Barbara is potent; she’s smart, sagacious and direct.
You never have to wonder what she is thinking – she gives it to
you straight. Barbara is perceived – at least by her mother – as
the strong one…the go-to daughter who can solve all their
problems and handle this crisis. Unfortunately, Barbara arrives
on the scene with her own baggage. Her 23-year marriage is
unraveling, and she has a rebellious teenage daughter who is
acting out – at least in part – as a result of being caught in
the middle of her parents’ discourse.
The entire show is
a remarkable piece of writing, but I’m particularly in love with
the way Barbara is written. Her strength is evident, but she
also shows great vulnerability, and she goes from being very
composed and capable to quite the opposite. It’s a challenging
role, but one that is an absolute pleasure to play. And God
bless him, Tracy Letts has given Barbara some of the greatest
lines in the play!
2. Wow, August: Osage County is a
heavy duty play. It has been called a “tragicomedy.” It is
heartwrenching and hysterical at the same time. What is your
take on Tracy Letts’ combined use of comedy and tragedy to
depict the Weston Family?
I love a good dark comedy –
truly. We live lives of conformity, compliance and manners, so I
love those opportunities to laugh-out-loud at taboo and
celebrate irreverence without fear of social retribution. Life
is hard! I think the ability to laugh at our darkest moments is
one of the healthiest things we can do for ourselves.
3.
There are a lot of great moments in this play. Which one is your
favorite? And why? (For me, the image of Barbara holding a glass
and saying she had the “plains” stuck with me.)
I perhaps
have a debatable definition of “great” in this context, but one
of my favorite moments is when Barbara’s husband, Bill, reports
that he’s leaving for home and taking their daughter with him.
It immediately peels away all of Barbara’s outer layers and
leaves her so completely exposed and vulnerable, but she
recognizes the importance of that moment and takes the
opportunity to lay it all on the line. It feels very real to me
each time we do that scene and tapping into the needed emotion
is somewhat effortless.
4. What was it like to work
together? Hopefully the Weston Family dynamic stays on the set…
This is such a great cast and fun group of people. Some of
the scenes are downright gritty and these characters say some
pretty ugly things to each other; it wasn’t at all uncommon
during rehearsal for us to hug before and after a difficult
scene. It’s not easy – even when acting – to looking another
person in the eye and yell, “I hate you!”
5. Why should
someone see this play?
See that line right there? This
show crosses it – All. The. Time. While it’s
believed there
really is love at the core of this family, they spend most of
their time launching razor-sharp barbs at one another as they
lead you through a plot that shocks and surprises you up to the
very end. There’s nothing like watching a family of harsh,
emotionally-broken people to make you feel as though your own
family is right out of an episode of “Father Knows Best”.
Besides, it’s one helluva a great story!
