By John Lyle Belden

It may be cliché, but the phrase “putting the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional” completely fits the Tony and Pulitzer winning tragicomedy “August: Osage County” by Tracy Letts, now on stage for another weekend at the Basile Westfield Playhouse, presented by Main Street Productions, directed by Brent Wooldridge.

Set in in 2007 in rural Oklahoma, where the hills near Tulsa meet the plains, we open with retired poet and professor Beverly Weston (Rob Lawson) hiring Johnna (Bella King) to help care for the house and his wife Violet (Sally Carter), who struggles with mental issues, cancer, and drug addiction. Being not related to anyone else in the play, the young Cheyenne woman will be about the only truly sane and sensible character in the cast.

Soon, Beverly disappears and family members come out of the woodwork (or at least fly in from other states). Strain, secrets, and substance use all take their toll in scenes both hilarious and disturbing – often simultaneously.

Carter gives a tour de force performance, swinging from one extreme to another, to moments of cool rationality, throughout. In turn, Violet’s daughters have their own issues with which they don’t deal well: Barbara (Molly Bellner) divorcing husband Bill (Jeff Peabody) and at wits end with teen daughter Jean (Megan Janning); Ivy (Monya Wolf) chafing to get out from under her mother’s thumb while keeping a devastating secret; and Karen (Caity Withers), who is set to marry Steve (JB Scoble), a guy so sketchy he could only be from Florida. Meanwhile, Violet’s sister Mattie Fay (Julie Dutcher) spreads bitterness that only her saintly patient husband Charlie (Jim LaMonte) can tolerate, saving her sharpest barbs for “loser” adult son Little Charles (Jonathan Rogers). Also on hand is Sheriff Deon Gilbeau (Mike Bauerle), who was Barbara’s prom date in high school. Each of these actors get several moments to shine.

Set design by Ron Roessler gives us a full house to hold all the action, while allowing easy movement, visibility and acoustics (attic scenes were as audible as on stage). Susan Yeaw is stage manager.

Hearts and dishes will break in this skewed portrait of Americana. Performances are Thursday through Sunday, June 15-18, at 230 N. Union St., Westfield. Get info and tickets at westfieldplayhouse.org.