Central College’s Visual and Performing Arts Department will present the tragicomedy “Crimes of the Heart,” by American playwright Beth Henley, from April 27-30 in Kruidenier Theatre on Central’s campus.
The scene is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, where the three Magrath sisters, Meg, Babe and Lenny, have reunited at Old Granddaddy’s home to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital. Their troubles — grave and yet, somehow, hilarious — are highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick, and by the awkward young lawyer who tries to keep Babe out of jail while helpless not to fall in love with her. It’s a story of young characters escaping the past to seize the future. The telling is so true and touching and consistently hilarious that it will linger in the mind long after the curtain has descended.
The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the play was novelized and released as a book, written by Claudia Reilly.
Directed by C.D. Adamson, Central assistant professor of theatre, the performances will take place at 7 p.m. April 25-30. Masks are strongly encouraged for the audience. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and senior citizens and free to Central students, faculty and staff with a Central ID. Tickets may be purchased ahead of time at events.central.edu or at the door the night of the show.
