Rehearsals for Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley, Fredericksburg Theater Company, April 10 - 26, 2015
The scene is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, where the three Magrath sisters have gathered to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital. Lenny, the oldest sister, is unmarried at thirty and facing diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast; while Babe, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach. Their troubles, grave and yet, somehow, hilarious, are highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick, and by the awkward young lawyer who tries to keep Babe out of jail while helpless not to fall in love with her. In the end the play is the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the future—but the telling is so true and touching and consistently hilarious that it will linger in the mind long after the curtain has descended.
Crimes of the Heart was the winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. An astonishing first play, initially presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, then Off-Broadway, and then on Broadway, where it established the author as a major voice in the theater and launched the career of Oscar winning actress Holly Hunter. It eventually was made into a very successful 1986 Oscar-nominated film. The dark comedy centers around three eccentric, disaster-prone Mississippi sisters that must come together when the youngest shoots her husband.
Cast in the production are Ashleigh Goff as Lenny Magrath, Nettie Joseph as Chick Boyle, Heidi Eubanks as Meg Magrath, Will Schalla as Doc Porter, Kristin DeGroot as Babe Botrelle and James Lacy as Barnette Lloyd.
Video and commentary by Steve Reilly, executive director.
Crimes of the Heart
by Beth Henley
Fredericksburg Theater Company (FTC)
April 10 - April 26, 2015
Apr. 10th - 25th, 2015, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm. Advance tickets are $29 for adults and $12 for 17 and younger. Tickets at the door are $35.
Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Tickets may be purchased at the theater box office, located next to the Steve W. Shepherd Theater, 1668 S US Hwy 87, Fredericksburg, TX, 78624, or by calling 830-997-3588 / 888-669-7114. They may also be purchased online at www.fredericksburgtheater.org.
For further details, please contact the theater office at 830-997-3588. Additional information and directions to the theater can also be found on FTC's website, www.fredericksburgtheater.org, or on their Facebook page.
