Producing the Play

Roundabout Theater Company

Laura Pels Theater
New York, New York

February-April, 2008

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

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2008/02/crimes_of_the_heart_serves_sou.html

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

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

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

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

Sound Designer: Jonathan Herter

Tennessee Repertory Theatre

James K. Polk Theatre

Nashville, Tennessee

September, 2003

Director: David Grapes
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.

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”.

The World of the Play

Macro View

Hurricane Camille: This powerful, deadly, and destructive hurricane formed just west of the Cayman Islands on August 14. It rapidly intensified and by the time it reached western Cuba the next day it was a Category 3 hurricane. Camille tracked north-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 5 hurricane on August 16. The hurricane maintained this intensity until it made landfall along the Mississippi coast late on the 17th. Camille weakened to a tropical depression as it crossed Mississippi into western Tennessee and Kentucky, then it turned eastward across West Virginia and Virginia. The cyclone moved into the Atlantic on August 20 and regained tropical storm strength before becoming extra tropical on the 22nd.


(Hazlehurst, MS is located on the direct storm path where MAJOR HURRICANE becomes HURRICANE)
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/history/camille_1969_map.gif

Hurricane Camille sets up the conflict between Meg and Doc Porter. Also, Hurricane Camille drastically changed the lives of the characters, just as it changed the lives of thousands of Mississippi residents.

Equal Rights Amendment: Passed in 1972 by Congress, the Equal Rights Amendment was intended to guarantee equal rights under federal, state, or local laws regardless of sex. However, the amendment failed to gain ratification by its 1982 deadline. Mississippi did not ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era.htm

The Equal Rights Amendment may play a vital role in the case of Babe v. her husband and how she will be tried.

Watergate Scandal: Beginning June 17, 1972 when five men were arrested during an attempt to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel, the Watergate Scandal led to the downfall of President Richard Milhous Nixon and ended with his resignation on August 8, 1974.
http://www.watergate.info/

The Watergate Scandal was followed by almost every american. The characters, aside from Meg, most likely would be following the scandal to its end because of the president's involvement.

November 7, 1972: President Richard Milhous Nixon is elected to serve a second term as president in a landslide win over Presidential Candidate, Senator George McGovern.

This election effects every character, because the president of the US effects every citizen in one way or another.

Paris Peace Accords: Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, signed in Paris and entered into force January 17, 1973.

The Parties participating in the Paris Conference on Viet-Nam,with a view to ending the war and restoring peace in Viet-Nam on the basis of respect for the Vietnamese people's fundamental national rights and the South Vietnamese people's right to self-determination, and to contributing to the consolidation of peace in Asia and the world, have agreed on the following provisions and undertake to respect and to implement them: http://www.aiipowmia.com/sea/ppa1973.html

The Vietnam War is a defining moment in our country's history, therefore it is a defining moment in the character's history. In some way, this event effected each character.

1973 Oil Crisis: In October 1973 the members of OAPEC, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, declared an Oil Embargo in response to American aid to the Israelis. As a result, oil prices skyrocketed and began the oil crisis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis#Immediate_economic_effects_of_the_embargo

Every citizen of the United States was effected by the Oil Embargo, including our characters.

Emergency Daylight Saving Energy Conservation Act 1973: Act signed by President Richard Nixon in an attempt to conserve fuel during the oil crisis caused by the Arab Oil Embargo. A trial period of Daylight Saving Time began on January 6, 1974 when all clocks were set ahead and ended October 27, 1974 after congress amended the act. Daylight Saving Time resumed February 23, 1975 and ended October 26, 1975.

CRIMES OF THE HEART takes place during the initial trial period of Daylight Saving Time, just one more thing for Lenny to stress over.

Impeachment/Resignation of President Richard Nixon: On July 30, 1974, as a result of the Watergate Scandal, the House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee. To avoid impeachment, President Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974 being the first president ever to do so.

The lives of the characters were effected by the resignation of President Nixon, like all other American Citizens, they lost their leader.

August 9, 1974: At noon on this day Vice-President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States to complete the remainder of Nixon's term.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/080974-3.htm

The inauguration of President Ford marked the end of sandal and lies in the lives of Americans, including the characters.

Cost of Living 1974:
Yearly Inflation Rate USA:11.3%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK: 17.2%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average: 616
Average Cost of New House: $34,900.00
Average Income Per Year: $13,900.00
Average Monthly Rent: $185.00
Cost of a Gallon of Gas: 55cents
Average Cost of a New Car: $3,750.00

The cost of living helped to define the lives led by our characters.



Micro View


Hazlehurst, Mississippi: The county seat for Copiah County, Hazlehurst began with the building of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad on November 3, 1865. The town is named for George Hazlehurst, an engineer for the new railroad, and is now a part of the Jackson metro area.

Residents of small towns know and take pride in the history of their town; it is also important to know where "home" is on a map.

State of Mississippi: The following is a link to the symbols of Mississippi; including the state motto, flag, and various animals. http://www.mississippi.gov/symbols.jsp

Just as we were taught in Texas, the Star Spangled Banner and that the state bird is the Mockingbird and flower is the Bluebonnet, the characters were most likely taught the same growing up in Mississippi. It's all about state pride!

Personal Testimony: (The following is a post found on city-data.com. It is in response to a request for people to post their memories of life in Mississippi during the 60s and 70s to help enrich a production of CRIMES OF THE HEART at the University of Southern Mississippi.)

I moved to Biloxi, MS in the summer of 1969, just a few weeks before hurricane Camille. Had never seen a hurricane before. I remember the days and weeks following the storm like it was yesterday. I was 13 years old. Also I remember segregation in my schools; 1970 was the first year we had a black student come to our school and the next year she made history when she became the school's first basketball cheerleader. It was the first year we were allowed to wear pantsuits to school and I remember the hem of our blouse had to reach our wrist when our arm hang by our side. There was no co-ed Phys. ED. and girls weren't allowed to take shop and boys couldn't go into the Home Eco. classes. Friday night high school football was big event. Our dress hems could be no more than 4" above the knee. The girls with the longest straightest hair were the most popular. Of course tight hip-hugger bell bottom jeans and platforms were the rage for girls. I remember selling Krispy Kreme donuts for .60c a dozen. The Klan and Dixie Mafia were always in the news. The Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo in Gulfport was a big deal then. I remember spending long hot summer days crabbing off old bridges and being on the Biloxi back bay piers when the shrimp boats docked. If you paid more than .90 cents a pound for 18 count you had to be a tourist. I remember floating down the rivers on inner tubes until we were so sunburned we couldn't move. There were no casinos on the beach and you didn't need a permit for a bonfire. The sand was clean and white. I remember floundering with a gig and light at low tide. There were just a just a few hotels all privately owned, no big name chains. The biggest headliner on the coast was Pete Fountain. Seems Huey P. Long and George McGovern were always in the news. Just like today, softball was huge in Ms. but most of the fields were way out in the country and none had infield grass or sprinkler systems. I remember the long hot weekends of tournaments, the shortest cut-off jean shorts a girl could possibly wear. We thought they were sexy but damn the huge strawberries we got sliding on the red clay. The men's teams won beer trophies. Do they still sell beer at ball parks today? The biggest employers in Stone County were the world's largest pickle factory and the lumber mill. Barq's rootbeer only came in bottles was the soda of choice and the return deposit on a coke bottle was five cents. Coors beer was boot-legged over the Mississippi river. The film "Smokey and the Bandit" made I-10 famous and made every young man in MS want a Trans Am. Highway 90 along the coast, known as the Hospitality Highway, was two lanes and had very few traffic lights. Soda vending machines and pay phones were 10 cents and 25 cents could buy a huge bowl of red beans and rice with corn bread as a side. A tailgate party was a truckbed full of cold beer on ice and dozens of boiled shrimp dumped on top of a wooden picnic table. Seems there were only two classes of white folks; the rich and the not rich. Blacks and whites didn't go to the same public places unless it was the jail. The best place to be on Friday night was the skating rink (when it wasn't football season). Despite the Child Rights Act of 1965 being passed, you could still get a belt whipping from Dad and the principle in my school had a big wooden paddle with holes in it he used quite often.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/mississippi/904780-mississippi-1974-what-do-you-remember.html

This personal testimony of growing up in coastal Mississippi is probably one of the best sources of material for actors. The lives of the characters can probably easily relate to the life of this anonymous blogger.

Hurricane Camille: On the night of August 17, 1969 Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Many had scoffed at the forecast of unprecedented high winds and expected a rising tide, but in the early morning hours of August 18th were firm believers. Many of those who refused to believe the forecast and stayed at home to ride out the storm lived to regret it. Some did not live through it. The latest survey reveals l34 deaths; 27 missing; 8,931 injured; 5,662 homes destroyed and 13,915 suffering major losses.
http://www.harrison.lib.ms.us/library_services/camille.htm

Not only did Hurricane Camille effect the entire state of Mississippi, and many of the other states along its storm path, Camille directly effect the life of Meg. Camille gave Meg a chance to run and she took it.

Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo: Beginning in 1948, the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo is an annual salt and fresh water national competition, open to all ages and conducted during the 4th of July events on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
http://www.mississippideepseafishingrodeo.com/rodeo_history.htm

There doesn't seem to be much to do in Hazlehurst, Ms, so the fishing rodeo was probably a great chance for the Magrath family to get out and have a good time.

Dixie Mafia: The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operated primarily in the Southern United States, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs. It is also particularly well-known for violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Mafia
http://www.insideprison.com/prison_gang_profile_DXM.asp

The Dixie Mafia in Mississippi is probably like the Bloods and Crypts in Texas; not always a direct threat, but something to always be aware of. The citizens of Hazlehurst would definitely be aware of the Dixie Mafia.

White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Considered the most militant as well as the most violent Ku Klux Klan in history. They originated in Mississippi in the early 1960s under the leadership of Samuel Bowers, its first Imperial Wizard. The White Knights of Mississippi was formed in 1964, and it included roughly 200 members of the Original Knights of Louisiana. The White Knights were not interested in holding public demonstrations or in letting any information about themselves get out to the masses. Similar to the United Klans of America (UKA), the White Knights of Mississippi were very secretive about their group. They were formed in 1963, and within a year, their membership was up to around six thousand, and they had Klaverns in over half of the counties in Mississippi. But by 1967, the number of active members had shrunk to around four hundred.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Knights_of_the_Ku_Klux_Klan
http://www.kkk.com/

It is quite possible, if not definite, that citizens of Hazlehurst were members of the Ku Klux Klan. Zackery Botrelle may have been a member himself, or known a few, which would add another level to his reaction toward Willie Jay.

Pete Fountain: "The biggest headliner on the coast" of Mississippi, Pete Fountain is one of the greatest jazz clarinetists of all time, native to New Orleans, LA.
http://www.epluri.com/NOTfolder/Acts/PeteFountain.html

Depending on how big her shows were, it is possible that Meg would have performed with Pete Fountain. Lenny also seems to be the type to listen to jazz music and would most likely know the music of Mr. Fountain.

930 Blues Cafe: A blues cafe in Jackson, MS. Here, from 9:30 pm on, live music is played every night, aside from Sundays. 930 Blues Cafe is a venue in which Meg Magrath would've been likely to sing at before moving to California.
http://www.jesdablues.com/

Segregation in Mississippi: Segregation played a large role in the lives of Mississippi residents within the 1970s. It was 1970 when the school systems of the state were forced to integrate after orders from the US Supreme Court. Knowing that segregation had such an impact on daily life adds to the pickle that Babe has put herself in by sleeping with young Willie Jay.
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/305/the-last-stand-of-massive-resistance-1970

Sounds and Images

Pete Fountain "A Closer Walk With Thee": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BP-NGFooJU

Robert Johnson "Hellhound On My Trail": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC4M4eQlz5I

Robert Johnson "Me and the Devil Blues": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MCHI23FTP8

Elvis Presley "Are You Lonesome Tonight": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrojFR7jM9E

Elvis Presley "Always On My Mind": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9sRJ-eOHnc

Images from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Hazlehurst sign with brief history
2. Damage from Hurricane Camille
3. Three color flag system used during the oil crisis
4. Whitfield "Mississippi State Hospital"
5. Parchman Prison Farm "Mississippi State Penitentiary"
   

   

   

Statement

With many aspects of the setting taken from her childhood in Jackson and Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Beth Henley gives the world sight into the lives of one not so ordinary family in her Pulitzer Prize winning play, Crimes of the Heart. Introduced to the Magraths during a time of crisis, Henley lightens what can be incredibly heavy circumstances with wit, charm, and the bond of sisterhood. To create a unique and believable world for her characters, Henley utilizes what’s going on in the world in 1974.

Completing the play in 1978, Henley writes of three women who find strength within each other during a time when women were still viewed as weak. The Equal Rights Act passed for ratification in 1972 plays a vital role in the lives of these women. Though the lack of ratification from the states was not the step forward that feminists were hoping for, it may have saved Babe’s life had she been brought before a jury and tried with equal rights under the law. It is not only the trial of one sister that brings these women strength. Together the sisters must prepare for the loss of their grandfather, and with the loss of one life will come the hope of new beginnings.

Hazlehurst, the sisters’ hometown, is experiencing new beginnings of its own during the time of this play. Just five years prior, in August of 1969, Hurricane Camille, one of the most powerful and damaging hurricanes in American history, drove through Hazlehurst and Jackson, Mississippi leaving many people to rebuild and start their lives anew. Meg was one of those people. Singing in Jackson jazz and blues joints, similar to 930 Blues Café, Meg was following her dreams of becoming a great singer in Hollywood. Instead of rebuilding her life in Hazlehurst, Meg used the hurricane as a way out to start new in California, leaving behind her old life with Doc Porter. Doc, as well as Lenny, Chick, and Babe, rebuilt their lives from the rubble at home. As the oldest of the sisters, Lenny has burdened herself with much more than necessary. It is not until she is given strength from her sisters that she begins to take the life rebuilt and allows it to blossom into something new with her old boyfriend, Charlie.

To fully understand the lives of these characters, one must first understand what is going on in the world around them, outside of Hazlehurst and Mississippi all together. Though not directly referred to within the piece, the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal were two major players in the shaping of our country’s history. Therefore, these issues were also present in the lives of Henley’s characters. The stress of an untrustworthy president may very well add to the stress Lenny has already brought upon herself. Chick, being the socialite she claims to be, would also be up to date with politics. Along the political front also lies the energy/oil crisis caused by the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. In an effort to conserve energy and increase fuel supplies, President Nixon passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Beginning on January 6, 1974, all clocks in the United States had to be set forward for daylight savings and would not be set back again until October 27, 1974. Therefore, the citizens of Hazlehurst are living in near perpetual daylight savings. Henley’s masterpiece takes place smack dab in the middle of the energy crisis. Again, though it is not mentioned directly within the script, it is important to know this bit of information in order to get a better idea of the lives these simple people live.

Though the world seen from viewing a play may be fictional, it always must be based on or inspired by some sort of fact. To understand a fictitious world is to understand the world in which it was created and the world in which it must represent. The world given to us by Beth Henley leaves open plenty of room for individual interpretation and at the same time, clearly represents the world that truly existed in 1974. Using childhood experience and history to her advantage, Henley gives us a world unique to her script and unique to her characters giving them a home in which to live.

(715 Words)

The Facts of the Play

Crimes of the Heart

The Basic Facts

Author: Beth Henley

Language: English

Play Structure: 3 Acts

Cast Breakdown: 2 Men, 4 Women

Approximate Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes (including one intermission)

Genre Identificaton: Comedy/Drama (according to Dramatists Play Service, Inc.)

Brief Bio: Elizabeth Becker Henley was born on May 8, 1952, in Jackson, Mississippi. Growingup, Henley always dreamed of becoming an actress. After graduating from highschool, she attended Southern Methodist University where she wrote her first play, a one-act entitled Am I Blue which was produced at SMU's Margo Jones Theatre in 1973.

Henley's first professionally produced play, Crimes of the Heart, was the co-winner of the 1979Great American Play Contest sponsored by the Actors Theatre of Louisville. A black comedy about three sisters, one of whom has just shot her husband, Crimes of the Heart then moved to New York where it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play of 1981.

Henley's other plays include The Wake of Jamey Foster (1982), AmI Blue (1982), The Miss Firecracker Contest (1984), The Debutante Ball (1985), The Lucky Spot (1986), Abundance (1990), Control Freaks (1992), Signature (1995), L-Play (1996), and Impossible Marriage (1998).

In addition to her stage plays, Ms. Henley has written a number of screenplays including the acclaimed film version of Crimes of the Heart which was nominated for an Academy Award and featured Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, and Sam Shepard. Other screenplays by Henley include Miss Firecracker starring Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen, and Tim Robbins, and Nobody's Fool starring Rosanna Arquette and Eric Roberts. She also collaborated on True Stories (1986) with Steven Trobolowsky and David Byrne, the lead singer of the Talking Heads who directed and starred in the film.

http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc47.html

Publication Information: Dramatist Play Service, Inc.

Licensing and Rights: The English language stock and amateur stage performance rights in the United States, its territories, possesions and Canada for CRIMES OF THE HEART are controlled exclusively by DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC.

FEE: $75 per performance

Exegesis

Hurricane Camille (setting): The third and strongest topical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. It made land fall near the mouth of the Mississippi River the night of August 17 and was the only Atlantic hurricane in recorded history to make landfallwith sustained wind speeds of at least 190 miles per hour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Camille

Empirin Compound (p. 16): An alternative brand name for aspirin.

Vicksburg, Mississippi (p. 20): Located approximately 50 miles north of Hazlehurst.

Polaroid Camera (1974) (p. 23): An original 1974 Polaroid SX-70 camera.

Bazaar (p.29): A sale of miscellaneous contributed articles to benefit some charity, cause, organization, etc.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bazaar

Davenport [desk] (p. 31): A small desk with an inclined lifting desktop attached with hinges to the back of the body. Lifting the desktop gives access to a large compartment with smaller spaces in forms of small drawers and pigeonholes. The Davenport also has drawers on on of its sides, sometimes concealed by a panel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_desk

Conjecture (p. 34): The formation or expression of an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence for proof.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Conjecture

Parchment Prision Farm (p. 36): Improper name for the Mississippi State Penitentiary

Whitfield (p. 66): Improper name for the Mississippi State Hospital, located in Whitfield, Mississippi.

Mimosa Tree (p. 66): The tree Chick climbs to escape the wrath of Lenny's broom; adds to the comedic reference because an adult obviously cannot successfully climb this tree.

Fable

The show opens with Lenny, the oldest Magrath sister, wishing herself a happy birthday with a cookie and candle on top. She blows out and re-lights the candle making a different wish each time until her ritual is interrupted by her high society cousin, Chick. Chick is rude and cares only about herself and the name she has made in their hometown of Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Chick comes over to talk with Lenny about Babe, the youngest of the three Magrath sisters, who is in jail after shooting her husband in the stomach, and gives Lenny a box of chocolates for her birthday. Chick is worried about the reputation she will get from her cousins’ behavior and is more worried when Lenny tells her that Meg, the middle sister, will be coming back home to see about Babe. When Meg left Mississippi to pursue a singing career five years ago, she left behind her boyfriend in the devastation caused by Hurricane Camille.

Chick leaves to pick up Babe from jail, after she’s been bailed out. While Chick is gone Meg arrives at Lenny’s home. Lenny informs Meg of all that’s going on with Babe, as well as what is going on with their ailing grandfather. Chick returns with Babe. Babe and Meg embrace and Babe begins to show Meg her things and catch her sister up on the things she has missed while gone in California. While Babe and Meg catch up, Chick complains to Lenny about how bad things will look when the town learns that Meg is home and Meg should leave before she runs into Doc, the old boyfriend she left behind with a permanent from the injury he had during the hurricane.

Lenny leaves with Chick because Chick’s children have eaten paints and they must be tended to. While those two are gone, Meg sits down with Babe to talk about Zackery, Babe’s husband, and why she shot him in the first place. Initially Babe dances around the truth of the matter because she is trying to protect Willie Jay, a 15 year old African-American boy, with whom she is having an affair with. Meg finally gets the truth out of her sister and convinces Babe to speak with her lawyer, Barnette Lloyd. Meg leaves when Barnette arrives to talk with Babe. When Barnette arrives he tells Babe of a personal vendetta he has against her husband, who happens to be a state senator and the most powerful lawyer in all of Hazlehurst. So it is in Barnette’s best interest to win Babe’s case, because he will be winning for himself, as well as for Babe. The two talk and Babe explains to Barnette why and how she shot her husband. During this initial interview Zackery calls the Magrath home and speaks to Barnette, informing him of evidence that he has against Babe. After this phone call, Barnette leaves.

Later that night, Babe and Meg have realized that they have forgotten their sister’s birthday, so they order a cake for her. Babe tells Meg about a man that Lenny was once romantically involved with, but broke it off due to a shrunken ovary that left her barren. Lenny is embarrassed when she learns that Babe has told Meg about Charlie, but her sister’s respond with encouragements for Lenny to get back in touch with Charlie.

Barnette returns. Meg and Lenny leave Babe to talk to him alone. Barnette had been given incriminating photographs, of Babe with young Willie Jay, by the private investigator hired by Zackery’s sister. Babe is worried that she will lose the case, but Barnette reassures her that with his own evidence against Zackery to expose him as a dirty Politian, he hopes to cut a deal. After this exchange, Barnette leaves and Babe goes upstairs. Meg comes back on and Doc comes over. The two talk about old times and about Doc’s new family. The two leave together. Lenny comes back on and receives a phone call from the hospital that their grandfather has had another stroke and is now in a coma. Babe comes back in and is informed of this news. The two sit and talk.

The next day, Babe is contemplating suicide after being given the photographs. Meg walks into the kitchen, after her night with Doc, to find Babe with her head in the oven with the gas on. Meg and Babe talk about the new evidence and Babe shows the photos to Meg. They then also talk about Meg’s night with Doc and how surprised she was that the romantic feelings were gone and she did not have the urge to ask him to run away with her. Lenny comes back in and the three talk about their grandfather and his prognosis and also talk about their mother who had hung herself, along with her pet cat, years ago, initially smearing the family name. During their talk, the girls also pump up Lenny into calling Charlie.

Plot Summary

Act I

The action opens on Lenny McGrath trying to stick a birthday candle into a cookie. Her cousin, Chick, arrives, upset about news in the paper. She and Lenny discuss going to pick up Lenny’s sister Babe. Chick expresses displeasure with other facets of the MaGraths’ family, as she gives Lenny a birthday present — a box of candy. Doc Porter, an old boyfriend of the other McGrath sister, Meg, arrives, and Chick leaves to pick up Babe. Lenny is upset at Doc’s news that Billy Boy, an old childhood horse of Lenny’s, was struck by lightning and killed. Doc leaves to pick up his son at the dentist.

Meg arrives, and as she and Lenny talk, it is revealed that Babe has shot her husband and is being held in jail. There is an awkwardness between the two sisters as they discuss their grandfather; Lenny has been caring for him and he has recently been hospitalized after a stroke. Lenny learns that Meg’s singing career, the reason she had moved to California, is not going well.

Chick returns to the house, accompanying Babe. Lenny and Chick run out after a phone call from a neighbor having an emergency. Meg and Babe, left alone together, discuss why it was that their mother committed suicide, hanging herself along with the family cat. Babe also begins revealing to her sister more about shooting her husband. The sisters also discuss Lenny, whose self-consciousness over her shrunken ovary, they feel, has prevented her from pursuing relationships with men, in particular a Charlie from Memphis who Lenny dated briefly. Noticing the box of candy, Meg and Babe realize they’ve forgotten Lenny’s birthday. They plan to order her a cake, as Babe’s lawyer Barnette arrives at the house. Babe hides from him at first, as Meg and Barnette, who remembers her singing days in Biloxi, become reacquainted.

Barnette reveals that he’s taken Babe’s case partly because he has a personal vendetta against Zackery, Babe’s husband. Barnette also reveals that medical records suggest Zackery had abused Babe leading up to the shooting. Barnette leaves and Babe reappears, confronted by Meg with the medical information. Babe admits she’s protecting someone: Willie Jay, a fifteen year-old African American boy with whom Babe had been having an affair. The shooting, Babe says, was a result of her anger after Zackery threatened Willie Jay and pushed him down the porch steps. As the act ends, Babe agrees to cooperate with Barnette for the benefit of her case, and the two sisters plan a belated birthday celebration for Lenny.

Act II

Evening of the same day. Barnette is interviewing Babe about the case. Zackery calls, threatening that he has evidence damaging to Babe. Barnette leaves to meet him at the hospital, after answering Babe’s question about the nature of his personal vendetta against Zackery.

Lenny enters, fuming; Meg, apparently, lied “shamelessly” to their grandfather about her career in show business. Old jealousies resurface; Lenny asks Babe about Meg. Babe and Lenny discuss the hurricane which wiped out Biloxi, when Doc’s leg was severely injured after his roof caved in. Many people have the perception that Meg, refusing to evacuate,“baited Doc into staying there with her.”

Meg enters, with a bottle of bourbon from which she has already been drinking. An apology for her lying to grandpa is quickly forthcoming.The three sisters look through an old photo album. Enjoying one another’s company at last, they decide to play cards, when Doc phones and is invited over by Meg. Lenny begins criticizing Meg, who counters by asking Lenny about Charlie; Lenny gets angry at Babe for having revealed this secret to Meg. Meg continues to push the point, and Lenny runs upstairs, sobbing. Babe follows, to comfort her.

Doc arrives. He and Meg drink together, and talk about the hurricane and hard times. Meg reveals to Doc that she “went insane” in L.A. and ended up in the psychiatric ward of the country hospital. The two decide to go off together and continue to drink. There is a knock at the back door, and Babe comes downstairs to admit Barnette. He has bad news for Babe: Zackery’s sister had hired a detective, who produced compromising photographs of Babe with Willie Jay. Babe is devastated, and as a final blow to close the act, Lenny comes downstairs to report that the hospital has called with news that their grandfather has suffered another stroke.

Act III

The following morning. Babe enters and lies down on Lenny’s cot. Lenny enters, also weary. Chick’s voice is heard almost immediately; her questions reveal that grandpa is in a coma and will likely not live. Chick and Lenny divide between them a list of people they must “notify about Old Granddaddy’s predicament.” Chick goes off with obvious displeasure with the sisters. Lenny and Babe ruminate about when Meg might be coming home.

Meg returns a moment later. Exhausted by their traumatic night, Lenny and Babe break down in hysterical laughter telling Meg the news about their grandfather. As the three sisters talk, Meg and Babe convince Lenny to call her man Charlie and restart their relationship. With her confidence up, Lenny goes upstairs to make the call. Babe shows Meg the envelope of incriminating photographs.

Barnette arrives; he states that he’s been able to dig up enough scandal about Zackery to force him to settle the case out of court. In order to keep the photos of Babe and Willie Jay secret, however, he will not be able to expose Zackery openly, which had been his original hope and intention. Willie Jay, meanwhile, will be sent North to live in safety. Barnette leaves; so does Meg, to pick up Lenny’s late birthday cake.

Lenny comes downstairs, frustrated at having been too self-conscious to call Charlie. Chick arrives a moment later, calling Meg a “low-class tramp” for going off with Doc. Lenny confronts Chick and tells her to leave. Zackery calls, informing Babe he’s going to have her committed to a mental institution. She defies him to do so and hangs up the phone. Lenny re-enters, elated at her triumph over Chick, and decides to make another try at calling Charlie. Babe takes rope from a drawer and goes upstairs.

Lenny makes the call; it goes well, and she makes a date with him for that evening. Wanting to tell someone, she runs out back to find Meg. There is a thud from upstairs; Babe comes down with a broken piece of rope around her neck. She makes another attempt to commit suicide, on-stage, by sticking her head in the oven. Meg finds her there and pulls her out. Babe, feeling enlightened, says she knows why their mother killed the cat along with herself; not because she hated it but because she loved it and “was afraid of dying all alone.” Meg comforts Babe by convincing her Zackery won’t be able to make good on his threat. Lenny returns and is surprised by her sisters' late birthday celebration. Despite the many troubles hanging over them, the play ends with the MaGrath sisters smiling and laughing together.

http://litsum.com/crimes-of-the-heart/

Characters

Lenny Magrath, 30: The oldest of the three Magrath sisters. Lenny feels the heaviest burden from her sisters and from caring for their ailing grandfather; also, Lenny suffers from great insecurities that she credits to her shrunken ovary.

Meg Magrath, 27: The second of the three Magrath sisters. Left Hazlehurst to pursue a sining career in California. She returns home when informed, by Lenny, of Babe's current predicament. Upon her return, Meg must also face the name she left for herself when she abandoned Doc Porter during Hurricane Camille.

Babe Botrelle, 24: The youngest of the three Magrath sisters. After shooting her husband, Babe must face the repercussions of her actions while trying to wrap her head around what's happened.

Chick Boyle, 29: The sisters' first cousin. Chick's main concern is keeping her own name clean with no regard to the well being of her three cousins.

Barnette Lloyd, 26: Babe's Lawyer.

Doc Porter, 30: Meg's old boyfriend.

Characters and Casting

Crimes of the Heart is a timeless piece in which author Beth Henley captured history through the lives of three sisters. Because the subject of race is a factor within the production, colorblind casting is not an option. Also, non-traditional casting will not be effective. The gender and race of the three Magrath sisters is made clear through context within the script.

When casting the Magrath sisters, it is important that they are all from the same ethnic background in order for three strangers to look as though they’ve come from the same two parents. Age is also a factor that cannot be ignored when casting these three women. For one, their ages are specifically referred to within the script and Meg’s reference to how old they all are will lose its comedic effect if these sisters were in fact old.

For the other three characters, Chick, Barnette, and Doc Porter, age should also take some precedence when casting. Chick should be around the sisters’ age based on the relationships that the four share. When dealing with the casting of Barnette, he too must be cast within a certain age group because his age is referenced when the ladies are discussing how young of a lawyer he is. Above all the others, Doc Porter’s age is probably the most lenient. Though he should be around the same age as Meg, there is no physical reference within the script that really sets Doc’s age in stone.

As far as traditionally casting the other three characters, it is most important that Chick is also cast within the same ethnic background as the Magrath sisters due to the fact that she is their cousin. It is assumed that Barnette and Doc are also white and due to the issue of race that appears within the allegations of Babe’s affair, neither Barnette nor Doc should be cast blindly.

Now, due to the time of the show, 1974, and references throughout the script, there can be no gender bending amongst the characters. The gender of each character is made clear from dialogue and given relationships. Therefore, each female character must be played by a female, and each male character played by a male. Also, to stay with the time of the show, Crimes of the Heart should be kept within its original setting and time; like a snippet of the past to be shared with generations to come.

This entire production should be kept within its time and place. In doing so, it is important to keep the casting traditional and not color-blind. Because of the racial issue and civil rights that were still being worked out in 1974, it is very important to keep the cast white, especially the Magrath sisters thanks to Babe’s affair. As a whole, the production would serve best if kept entirely traditional with props and scenery to reflect this idea as well. With this approach, the people of Hazlehurst, Mississippi will be given a traditional home which reflects who they are as characters, therefore, also reflecting the traditional cast.

Definitions of Dramaturgy

Dramaturgy (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dramaturgy): The art or technique of dramatic composition or theatrical representation. In this sense English dramaturgy and French dramaturgie are both borrowed from German Dramaturgie, a word used by the German dramatist and critic Gotthold Lessing in an influential series of essays entitled Hamburgische Dramaturgie ("The Hamburg Dramaturgy"), published from 1767 to 1769. The word is from the Greek dramatourgia, "a dramatic composition" or "action of a play."

Dramaturgy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramaturgy): Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Some dramatists combine writing and dramaturgy when creating a drama. Others work with a specialist, called a dramaturg, to adapt a work for the stage. Dramaturgy may also be defined, more broadly, as shaping a story into a form that may be acted. Dramaturgy gives the work or the performance a structure.

Dramaturgy (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dramaturgy): A prentetious, over-used theatre word used by pretentious theatre people when they are trying to sound intellegent. This word has no particular or useful meaning, and is most commonly used to stump theatre students and make them question their knowledge of theatre terms.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing