Carolina Actors Studio Theatre (CAST) is all about creating an experience that extends beyond the stage. Because of this, I am sharing my personal experience with “AUGUST: Osage County” this past Friday, Aug. 26.

I knew Carolina Actors Studio Theatre received a “Cultural Innovation” grant from the Arts & Science Council, a Knight Arts grantee, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, of which a main goal was to secure a better location with larger theatres and other amenities. The new Carolina Actors Studio Theatre home is located at 2424 N. Davidson St., Suite 113, in the historic neighborhood of NoDa. (The infamous Amelie’s French Bakery & Cafe — which is open 24 hours a day — shares the building.)

Under the artistic direction of Michael Simmons, Carolina Actors Studio Theatre is known for its attention to detail and the extra experiential aspects in which it always creates an unforgettable theatre experience. This performance of “AUGUST: Osage County” went above and beyond on both counts.

“AUGUST: Osage County” is an ambitious production with a large cast and utilizes a three-story set, bringing the performance right to the edge of the audience. Carolina Actors Studio Theatre was actually invited to perform the Regional Premier of this Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts.

As described on Carolina Actors Studio Theatre’s website: “The play is Letts’ best and darkest comedic drama — a three-story, booze-swilling, pill-popping evening of laugh-out-loud, cry-inside family dysfunction. Beverly Weston, the poet patriarch has disappeared, and now the family gathers to weather this Oklahoma storm of uncertainty — an extended clan, grand and bizarre — [with] a sweltering reunion of black sheep toting their suitcases packed with addictions, secrets and unspoken truths.”

I arrive a little early because they have a strict “no late seating” policy. (There is plenty of free parking.) After a short walk through the building’s atrium, I’m greeted by a woman in a white jacket opening the door. There is dim lighting inside. At quick glance, I notice a “pharmacy” to the left behind glass, dream catchers hanging and a slow, almost sad, ambiance.

My “ticket” for the performance of “AUGUST: Osage County” is a pill bottle. There is a melancholic undertone in the front lobby, but people in white coats offer help. In the next room, the spacious theatre lobby, there is a bar underneath a gorgeous wall mural of the old homestead itself (almost as if looking at the house from a distance).

When we are ushered into the theatre surrounding, a three-story home interior, Beverly  is sitting on the couch drinking, while the Moody Blues “Melancholy Man” can be heard in the background. Gradually, the music gets louder. We are in their world. For the Weston family, secrets are kept in the dark. The old house with stale air and little natural light is a metaphor for this slow death.

Time flies by (there are three acts, two intermissions), though I feel self-conscious a few times by my welling up of emotion. All of the acting is outstanding, but actress Polly Adkins is Violet Weston, the manipulative, mean matriarch in which we catch small slivers of love piercing through. The acting, the characters, the laugh-out-loud heart-wringing moments string together a very palpable intimate slice of time in the life of this family.

Some argue that great art connects with us on an emotional level. Simply based on this criteria, Carolina Actors Studio Theatre is high art. I don’t consider myself a regular theatre patron, yet I have experienced all kinds throughout my life. Personally speaking, the best live theatre is intimate, where the viewer lives in the same space as the characters. “AUGUST: Osage County” is powerful, memorable, leaving me appreciating my own crazy family and defining itself as some of the best live theatre I’ve experienced.

Carolina Actors Studio Theatre (CAST) will present “AUGUST: Osage County” Aug. 25 through Sept. 24, 2011. Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays, Saturdays at 8 p.m. Seating is limited —  no late seating. Tickets are $28 (seniors $22 and students $18). Season tickets available. Patrons may also support Carolina Actors Studio Theatre through the “Save Me a Seat” program. Please note this play contains very adult material and herbal cigarette smoke.