Age in Contemporary Drama and Performance: The Value of Considering Theatrical Time

This chapter addresses the sub-field of theater and age studies, highlighting the value of analytic approaches that consider how a play functions in live performance and as a dramatic text. A close-reading, comparative analysis of two American plays, August: Osage County (2007) by Tracy Letts and 4000 Miles (2011) by Amy Herzog, is offered as an example of such an analytic approach. Both plays are set in the home of a central, older, maternal character and explore intergenerational conflict, as well as how their characters cope with aging. This chapter applies Matthew D. Wagner’s model of temporal phenomena in Shakespeare’s plays to demonstrate how understandings of theatrical time influence narratives of age, aging, and intergenerationality. Specifically, the chapter argues that time structures in August: Osage County contribute to the play’s reiteration of familiar cultural tropes that link older age to decline and loss, and blame older characters for generational rupture. By contrast, dramatic time structures in 4000 Miles resist the decline narrative as well as the tendency to make older female characters responsible for family discord. Instead, the play links female older age to reciprocal learning, caregiving, and open-mindedness.