Cast





Production Staff
Eric Blake (Director) – Eric is currently employed as the Director of Operations for Shrivers Oxygen and Home Medical. He has had a love of the theatre for many years and he enjoys directing as well as being on stage. It was instilled in him at an early age the importance of working behind the scenes as well as acting. Eric currently serves on the Board of Directors at Zanesville Community Theatre. Eric’s directing credits include: Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, RENT, Doubt, J.B., Steel Magnolias, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and The Lion In Winter. On stage, Eric has recently appeared in Sweeney Todd, Death of A Salesman and Next Fall; just to name a few.Eric wishes to take this opportunity to thank his wife Janice for her 31 years of love and support and for helping him to make the time to be involved with theatre and the many other community activities they are involved with.
Eric hopes that you enjoy the show and thanks you for supporting Zanesville Community Theatre as they continue to strive for excellence against a backdrop of tradition.
Director’s Note:
Welcome to Zanesville Community Theatre! I am so excited that you have chosen to join us for our production of August: Osage County! Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, Tracy Letts’ darkly comic drama August: Osage County is worthy of much praise. The text is rich with compelling characters and scintillating criticism of the modern American family. This show is set on the plains of modern day, middle-class Oklahoma. The Weston family members are all intelligent, sensitive creatures who have the uncanny ability of making each other absolutely miserable. When the patriarch of the household mysteriously vanishes, the Weston clan gathers together to simultaneously support and attack one another.
Many messages are conveyed throughout the play including, types of husbands, mothers and daughters, and “what goes around comes around”. Most of the characters dread the notion of living alone yet they violently resist intimacy, and most seem doomed to a sad, solitary existence. The final lesson is harsh but simple: Be a good person or you’ll taste nothing but your own poison.
The cast and crew participated in “in-depth” character development discussions and dissecting the many facets of the Weston family only to discover that there are aspects of the Weston family in each of our families. Imagine that!! Whether we want to admit it or not, they are there!
It is not often that a show this well written comes along. I feel it is one of the most brilliantly written scripts of this century. It is with a sincere heart that I say “Thank You” to the cast and crew of this show along with the Board of Directors of Zanesville Community Theatre for their support in bringing this amazing show to life at ZCT. I dedicate this show to all of those who made this possible.
I hope you enjoy the show and thank you for supporting Zanesville Community Theatre as we continue “Striving for Excellence Against a Backdrop of Tradition”!
Eric Blake, Director

