Theatre's 'Crimes of the Heart' Explores Family Pain, Joys
The story of the pain and joys of three middle-aged sisters as they explore their past to embrace the future will unfold on the stage of Alma College’s Strosacker Theatre.
Alma College Theatre presents "Crimes of the Heart," a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Beth Henley, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, Friday, Feb. 19, Saturday, Feb. 20, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 in the Remick Heritage Center at Alma College.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 62 and up, and free for Alma College staff, students and youth 18 and under. Seating is reserved. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.
The play’s setting is the Magrath family kitchen in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, five years after Hurricane Camille.
"It is a play about a small town in which something big occurs," says Ashley Sawatzke, assistant director. "It focuses on family and what they have to overcome so they can have a successful life.”
Two of the sisters are returning to Mississippi to nurse their sick Granddaddy and the eldest sister who devotes her time to him instead of eligible men. The youngest sister is returning from jail after she shot her husband and is the gossip of the town.
"It is consistently hilarious," says Sawatzke.
Because the setting is in Mississippi, the actors are incorporating a southern accent and culture.
"It is the first show at Alma in a long time that utilizes a dialect and attitudes of a specific area," says Sawatzke.
The production’s sole location, the kitchen of the Magrath family, also allows a lot of freedom.
"There will be a working sink, refrigerator light, and a stove that will appear very real," says Sawatzke. "The cast is having a lot of fun eating and drinking from glass bottles of Coca Cola and trying to boil water while still in character. All of the clothing also has been bought from vintage stores. Even some of the shoes are vintage.”
Originally produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, “Crimes of the Heart” won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1981 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play.
Posted: Fri, February 12th, 2010 at 8:28AM
