Laura Pels Theater
New York, New York
New York, New York
February-April, 2008
Director: Kathleen Turner
Set Designer: Anna Louizos
Director: Kathleen Turner
Set Designer: Anna Louizos
Costume Designer: David Murin
Lighting Designer: Natasha Katz
Original Music and Sound Designer: John Gromada
A little play about three adorably twisted Mississippi sisters and the "real bad day" they're experiencing...Relating much more of Henley's story is likely to dampen the fun of encountering its daffy charms. Safe to say that the serious circumstances bringing the trio together are treated for whimsical humor. Suicide, attempted murder, adultery, imminent death, even lovelorn Lenny's hunger for romance (despite a well-known shrunken ovary) are simply reasons for the siblings to pull out their scrapbooks and stir up gallons of lemonade.
Michael Sommers, NJ.com
Beth Henley's comedy “Crimes of the Heart” has proved to be a durable showcase for actresses in the two decades and more since it won the Pulitzer Prize. A little bit Chekhov and a little bit Eudora Welty, it tells a twangy story of three Southern sisters loving, feuding and fussing through a very bad day.
Charles Isherwood, New York Times http://theater.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/theater/reviews/15crim.html
Theatre Aspen
Alex Kaufman Theater
Aspen, Colorado
August, 2008
Director: Michael Unger
Set Designer: Markas Henry
Lighting Designer: Loren Wilder
Sound Designer: David Thomas
Costume Designer: Kevin Brainerd
The entire Beth Henley play takes place during a two-day gathering at the sisters’ childhood home, under the premise that one of them, Babe, has just killed her husband. Even without the impending threat of a jail sentence, a sick grandfather, three love interests and a condescending cousin in the mix, the sisters’ relationship is volatile. Jealousy, sadness, anger, affection and laughter all roller-coaster through the stage in a matter of minutes, making it a challenging play for any actress.
Katie Redding, The Aspen Times
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20080806/AE/80534686/1014&parentprofile=1060
In the theatrical equivalent of a chick flick, the three McGrath sisters--playing with astonishing pugnacity by Janet Metz, Lisa Datz, and Sandy Rustin--and their cousin Chick Boyle, played by Sally Mae Dunn, who embraces reprehensibility with a brio that borders on the illegal--manage to laugh and cry and stomp their way to a conclusion that becomes maniacly cheerful despite the odds.
Michael Conniff, Aspen Post
http://www.aspenpost.net/2008/08/01/chimes-of-the-heart-theatre-aspen/
Second Stage
Second Stage Theater
New York, New York
April-May, 2001
Director: Garry Hynes
Set Designer: Thomas Lynch
Lighting Designer: Rui Rita
Costume Designer: Susan Hilferty
Sound Designer: Donald DiNicola
Angst comes in shades of pink in the perky new revival of ''Crimes of the Heart,'' Beth Henley's Pultizer Prize-winning comedy about the sorrows and strengths of Southern sisterhood. Pink is the color of the tissues that a character uses to mop her eyes and nose as she sobs over mortal thoughts on her 30th birthday. Pink (leaning toward fuchsia) is the color of the rope with which another young woman tries to hang herself. Pink, for that matter, is often the color of Ms. Henley's prose, which somehow always finds the sugar in the shadows of despair.
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
http://www.lexisnexis.com.unx1.shsu.edu:2048/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9850913411&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9850910183&cisb=22_T9850913413&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=6742&docNo=6
If the play's heart is (or at least should be) invested in Lenny (Enid Graham does a generally fine job of maintaining Lenny's balance -- showing us her insecurities as well as her essential wackiness, even though she has been directed to telegraph reactions that would better left far more understated), its comic core rests in Babe. In this regard, Mary Catherine Garrison is marvelous, letting Babe's childlike voice ignite Henley's best dialogue without totally losing its plaintive desperate element.
Les Gutman, Curtain Up
http://www.curtainup.com/crimesoftheheart.html
Second Stage Theater
New York, New York
April-May, 2001
Director: Garry Hynes
Set Designer: Thomas Lynch
Lighting Designer: Rui Rita
Costume Designer: Susan Hilferty
Sound Designer: Donald DiNicola
Angst comes in shades of pink in the perky new revival of ''Crimes of the Heart,'' Beth Henley's Pultizer Prize-winning comedy about the sorrows and strengths of Southern sisterhood. Pink is the color of the tissues that a character uses to mop her eyes and nose as she sobs over mortal thoughts on her 30th birthday. Pink (leaning toward fuchsia) is the color of the rope with which another young woman tries to hang herself. Pink, for that matter, is often the color of Ms. Henley's prose, which somehow always finds the sugar in the shadows of despair.
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
http://www.lexisnexis.com.unx1.shsu.edu:2048/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9850913411&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9850910183&cisb=22_T9850913413&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=6742&docNo=6
If the play's heart is (or at least should be) invested in Lenny (Enid Graham does a generally fine job of maintaining Lenny's balance -- showing us her insecurities as well as her essential wackiness, even though she has been directed to telegraph reactions that would better left far more understated), its comic core rests in Babe. In this regard, Mary Catherine Garrison is marvelous, letting Babe's childlike voice ignite Henley's best dialogue without totally losing its plaintive desperate element.
Les Gutman, Curtain Up
http://www.curtainup.com/crimesoftheheart.html
Chenango River Theater
Chenango River Theater
Greene, New York
October-November, 2008
Director: Andrea Andresukis
Set Designer: Bill Lelbach
Lighting Designer: Julie Duro
Costume Designer:Barbara Kahl
PlayMaker's Repertory Company
Paul Green Theatre
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October-November, 2007
Director:John Feltch
Set Designer: Jan Chambers
Lighting Designer: M.L. Geiger
Costume Designer: Jan Chambers
Sound Designer: Michael Marrano
Chenango River Theater
Greene, New York
October-November, 2008
Director: Andrea Andresukis
Set Designer: Bill Lelbach
Lighting Designer: Julie Duro
Costume Designer:Barbara Kahl
PlayMaker's Repertory Company
Paul Green Theatre
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October-November, 2007
Director:John Feltch
Set Designer: Jan Chambers
Lighting Designer: M.L. Geiger
Costume Designer: Jan Chambers
Sound Designer: Michael Marrano
Commonweal Theatre Company
St. Mane Theater
Lanesboro, Minnesota
April-July, 2007
Director: David Gardiner
Set Designer: Kate Sutton-Johnson
Lighting Designer: Hal Cropp
Costume Designer: Debbie Neville
Sound Designer: Andy Waltzer
The Human Race Theater Company
The Loft Theater
Dayton, Ohio
December, 2004
Director: Marsha Hanna
Set Designer: Darrell Anderson
Lighting Designer: John Rensel
Costume Designer: Mary Beth McLaughlin
Sound Designer: Scott Stoney
Sound Designer: Scott Stoney
Syracuse Stage
Archbold Theatre
Syracuse, New York
October-November, 2004
Director: Robert Moss
Set Designer: David Birn
Lighting Designer: Steven Ten Eyck
Costumer Designer: Junghyun Georgia Lee
Costumer Designer: Junghyun Georgia Lee
Sound Designer: Jonathan Herter
Tennessee Repertory Theatre
James K. Polk Theatre
Nashville, Tennessee
September, 2003
Director: David Grapes
Set Designer: Gary C. Hoff
Set Designer: Gary C. Hoff
Lighting Designer: Karen Creel
Costume Designer: David Sindledecker
Sound Design: Darin F. Karnes
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Pamela Brown Auditorium
Louisville, Kentucky
May, 2003
Director: Timothy Douglas
Set Designer: Tony Cisek
Lighting Designer: Tony Penna
Costume Designer: Lorraine Venberg
Sound Designer: Vincent Olivieri
Statement: Producing the Play
Textual Problems
Crimes of the Heart is a very dark comedy dealing with very heavy life and death situations; it can easily be over played and turned into a ridiculous melodrama. In order to capture some kind of realism, creating a believable world, the director must be careful to not play to the darker side of the script, and rather play up the comedy so that the audience doesn’t become bored or depressed. Another place to caution is with the use of a southern dialect. Dialect will have to play a very large role within this piece if the director decides to traditionally present the script, but he/she must be careful to not take it too far. There are six people from south Mississippi where residents have very distinct speech. Because of the heavy dialect, the question then goes to whether or not a dialect coach will be needed and how much time will be spent focusing on dialect work versus relationship and character work.
Crimes of the Heart is a very dark comedy dealing with very heavy life and death situations; it can easily be over played and turned into a ridiculous melodrama. In order to capture some kind of realism, creating a believable world, the director must be careful to not play to the darker side of the script, and rather play up the comedy so that the audience doesn’t become bored or depressed. Another place to caution is with the use of a southern dialect. Dialect will have to play a very large role within this piece if the director decides to traditionally present the script, but he/she must be careful to not take it too far. There are six people from south Mississippi where residents have very distinct speech. Because of the heavy dialect, the question then goes to whether or not a dialect coach will be needed and how much time will be spent focusing on dialect work versus relationship and character work.
Contextual Problems
Because Crimes of the Heart is such an intimate piece it would be best to produce in the Showcase Theater where the actors can feel more at home in their set. Since the show is set within the kitchen of the Magrath home, the set will require very large pieces, such as a refrigerator, a oven, a sink, and other large items one would find in a kitchen. Depending on what is in the Sam Houston inventory, this set alone could very easily take the entire budget and more. To remain within a small budget, set dressings will have to be sacrificed. The script gives an almost fifteen page list for set props alone and another four pages for simple hand props. Costumes may also come with a decent price tag if the production is to stay within its original time. Clothing from the 1970s is considered “vintage” therefore more expensive, so the best route may be through building costume pieces.
Other Productions’ Solutions
At Second Stage, the audience was kept “in stitches pretty much throughout” leaving no room for an excessively heavy production. Director Garry Hynes definitely played up the comedy in this production to avoid the potential consequences of melodrama, but at the same time he lost a few of the dramatic undertones that support the piece. In Aspen, director Michael Unger seemed to be able to create a more balanced production giving just enough to the comedy as well as drama. Unger also decided to enhance the question “Why hang the cat when you’re killing yourself?” therefore adding a layer of darkness to offset the comedy (rather than using comedy to offset the darkness). At the other end of the spectrum from Garry Hynes production, Kathleen Turner directs the 2008 revival toward the darker side of things. “In general Ms. Turner is more adept at drawing out the darker hues in Ms. Henley’s writing than at shaping the fluffier moments.”
Critical Response
The most common phrase used amongst the select critics when describing Crimes of the Heart seems to be “gothic comedy”. Each director provided the balance needed between light-heartedness and the heavy issues. The Curtain Up review of Second Stage’s production is the only one to speak of any dialect used in the production. Whether or not the actors spoke in a Mississippi dialect was not a big concern with each of these productions. In the end, what mattered was the relationship between the sisters and the relationships amongst the other characters. The strong relationship and character work was evident in each production because it shined through every review. Though some critics preferred the darkness over “fluff”, each gave a good review of a well-balanced “gothic comedy”.
