Crimes of the Heart

Crimes of the Heart, the Pulitzer Prize-Winning comedy by Beth Henley is set in the small town of Hazlehurst, Mississippi in 1974. The play follows three sisters as they come together in the midst of a very bad day. Called “a pure vein of Southern gothic humor” by The New York Times, Crimes of the Heart received the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among a number of other prestigious awards and three Tony Award nominations. The story was later adapted into a film starring Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, and Sissy Spacek.

As the story opens, Babe, the youngest sister, has just shot her husband—and needless to say, he’s not too happy about it. Now out on bail, she reunites with her two sisters to make sense of their most recent misfortunes. Meg is back from a failed career in the music industry. Lenny is lamenting her forgotten 30th birthday. Their mother is dead, and so is the cat, and so too, nearly, is Grandaddy—not to mention their horse, who has just been hit by lightning. But not all is bad, and the sisters find plenty to laugh about as they navigate the troubled world they may or may not have brought upon themselves.

Director Robert Harrelson has gathered an ensemble that is a refreshing mix of OSP veterans as well as new faces. Tabitha Davis shines as the innocent, yet troubled and accused murderess Babe; Debb Adams portrays Lenny, balancing her vulnerability and sense of big-sister responsibility with skill; Emily Meadows completes the MaGrath sister trio with her energetic Meg, who camouflages her inner weakness with a tough exterior. Rounding out the cast are Patti Anderson, bringing likability to the sharp-tongued cousin Chick; Jonathan Fletcher as the young lawyer Barnette who is representing Babe; and Robert Bullock as Doc Porter, who is pleased to see Meg back in town although she is widely regarded as the cause of the injury that derailed his medical career.