The time is August 2007 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma sixty miles northwest of Tulsa. There is not a particular day set in August. Time has become irrelevant to Beverly and Violet Weston. Below is a link to learn more about Pawhuska
http://www.pawhuskachamber.com/
The Pawhuska Journal Capital is the local newspaper. Click on the link below and go to archives to read about happenings in Pawhuska during August 2007.
http://www.pawhuskajournalcapital.com/
A total lunar eclipse occurred August 27, 2007 lasting over 90 minutes the longest and deepest in over 7 years. Below is a link to an interview on NPR with playwright Tracy Letts and his father. This gives an insight to the life of the Westons and how he devloped the play.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId
The "Weston Clan" is a symbol of the decaying Middle Class American family. You can draw a symbol of what unfortunate encounter happened to the Native American to what is going on in their life. The children have all moved away except for Ivy. When the children start moving away the family generally starts to deteriorate.
Johnna Monevata is the Indian housekeeper that Beverly hires. Below is a link to the Osage Nation to better understand her world.
http://www.osagetribe.com/
The Weston family values Education. Beverly was a professor and poet. All of the girls graduated from college and Barbara is even a Professor at University of Colorado in Boulder. Education was their freedom from the stillness of the plains.
It also is important to know a little about Boulder, Colorado because this is where Barbara, Bill and their Jean live. They are very open with their daughter who is 15 and openly smokes cigarettes and pot in front of her parents. Boulder is a very liberal city and most likely if they lived in Oklahoma Jeans life would be much different.
http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/
The whole family loves mind altering substances whether it is pill, booze or pot. This is main ingrediant to Beverly and Violets relationship. In the prologue Beverly states: " My wife takes pill and I drink. That's the bargain we've struck.." Not able to deal with the harsh reality they escape daily through some substance. Violet even refers to her pill as "my best friend and they never let me down!".
They love poetry constantly quoting various poets. The family certainly represents your stereotypical frustrated poet.
For the older women Violet and Mattie Fae the role of the women are traditional mother and wife. Violet could not deal with life once all her chicks flew the coop. Mattie Fae created a situation that would not allow her son to leave home. No one wants to be alone on the plains.
The world that shaped the Westons was also Tulsa University. Tulsa is known as "little Austin" in Oklahoma. The more liberal free thinkers dwell in Tulsa. The Weston in their "day" were the family that people envied in Pawhuska. It is important to understand the role of a professor and wife when your husband at one point was a well known Poet.
http://www.utulsa.edu/
Despite all their antics a value of traditional america is an underlying tone they talk of baseball. and fishing. They eat Apple Pie, Chicken , Greenbean Casserole and potatoes. This is important because the world they so badly wanted to escape is the one that provides them comfort.
