Theater Review: Crimes of the Heart

by Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart is considered an American classic. This play has entered the cannon of great American Plays. It is loved by many, and it is presented constantly by every type of theatre from schools to community to professional groups. It is probably performed with as much frequency as Steel Magnolias, The Glass Menagerie, The Odd Couple or The Foreigner. It is easy to understand why. The story is universal, it has dramatic moments, scenes of pure comedy, and it’s the story of love in all its permutations.

The plot is simple: The three Magrath sisters are reunited on the account of their grandfather’s impending death. The youngest, Babe, is currently under indictment for the attempted murder of her husband. The middle sister, Meg, is a failed singer who has been living in Hollywood, and the oldest, Lenny, is celebrating her 30th birthday having given up on life and resigning herself to being a spinster. What the three share is an intense affection and bond, and at other times an intense dislike of each other. The three women are highly emotional, yet true to one another. The one unfailing emotion that permeates all their actions is love. The play takes place over a 24 hour period so nothing ever gets fully resolved as far as the plot is concerned; the audience is left to figure out what happens next. Yet the play is very satisfying because we know that whatever the future holds for them, the Magraths will remain loyal to each other till the end.

To make the play work, it is imperative that the three sisters be powerhouse actors. Renee Krapff, Trisha Miller Smith, and Carrie Slaughter, were perfect. These three were able to deliver nuanced performances with great sincerity. Even when a snafu on stage happened when Ms. Slaughter’s jewelry got caught on a pillow momentarily preventing her from doing her stage business, they handled it as if it were part of the script. There couldn’t be a more convincing performance from these three. They have created definitive versions of these characters.

The supporting cast of characters played by Kevin Moore as the attorney Barnette, Gary Floyd as Meg’s old and now married flame, and Morgana Shaw as Chick their cousin, couldn’t have been better. These three had differing levels of involvement in the storyline, yet they too played their roles with such sincerity; one forgot that it was actors portraying these people on stage.

Terry Dobson who directed this production did it with such great care and sensitivity. By honoring the 3 Act structure of the play – frequently Acts 2 and 3 are performed without a break, he allowed the audience to digest the play. He also kept an uneven pace to the evening. This would normally be a negative, but in this case it was a positive. Too quick a pace would have made the show seem a bit like a sitcom, since it has a plethora of great one-liners, too slow a pace would have turned the play into a maudlin evening. This uneven pacing allowed the full drama and comedy to blossom.

Bruce Coleman who did the sets did his duty with the expected excellence. The set felt genuine. The costuming by Michael Robinson was true to the early 1980’s, without falling into the overly stylized affectations of the era.

The only area that was not to the usual level of design was in the lighting. It’s difficult to light in-the-round theatre spaces, and there was a bit of unevenness in the lighting smack in the center area of the stage where the character Lenny sat. From section C, which is where I sat, she was split during the late evening and early morning scenes by two lights creating an uneven shadow line at times. Other than this one area, the rest of the set was suffused with a wonderful glow.

A few things I must mention for anyone wanting to go to this show or to see a play in general:

• If you sit in the wrong seat and it’s pointed to you, move! Don’t make a scene! Don’t let everyone know how inconvenient it is for you to get into your assigned seat, especially when you bought the cheaper seats and still bitched about the price.
• One of the characters does smoke. Theatre Three posted clearly and visibly that herbal cigarettes would be used in the show. When the one smoking sister lit up, I nearly bust out laughing for there was an audience member in the front row that made such a dramatic gesture of covering his nose, breathing through the program, rolling his eyes, and creating such a fuss. He became distracting. What made it so funny is that his reaction was so huge and inappropriate: the sister had barely lit the cigarette, there was no way the smoke could’ve have reached his seat that quickly because the law of physics prevented it, yet he acted as if he was trapped in a TB ward.
• The other item was the amorous couple in front of me. He didn’t just kiss her he sucked her nose, repeatedly…eew!

If you are uncontrollably horny, if you are so offended by non-cigarettes, or you get caught sitting in the wrong seat, please don’t make a spectacle of yourself. If you go to the theatre, please be considerate and don’t compete with the drama on the stage. God bless Theatre Three.

If you have never seen Crimes of the Heart, here is your chance to catch a great version. If you have seen it before, and are apprehensive about seeing it yet again: go! You will find this production very much worth revisiting.

Crimes of the Heart runs through March 16 and tickets can be purchased online or by calling 214-871-3300.