I was attracted to the play because first of all I think the storytelling is really interesting. And I think also as a parent now I'm totally fascinated by sort of the mythology of family because that's really a lot of what the play is about.
It's kind of got everything - good comedy, good drama, good romance - and I can see why Julia Roberts would be attracted to it. Everybody gets to play two parts. You get to play the adult children in Act I and the parents in Act 2 (when the clock is set back 35 years).