Warm-hearted, funny-sad, and wonderfully imaginative, “Crimes of the Heart” is a play teeming with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of three young Mississippi sisters betrayed by their passions.
“Crimes of the Heart” will run from April 10 – 15 in the Black Box Theatre in the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center at 1 South Ave in Garden City.
This production features the students of the Department of Theatre and is directed by Brian Rose.
The scene is Hazlehurst, Miss., where the three Magrath sisters have gathered to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital.
Lenny, the oldest sister, is unmarried at 30 and facing diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast; while Babe, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach.
Their troubles, grave and yet, somehow, hilarious, are highlighted by priggish cousin, Chick, eager young lawyer Barnette, who is struggling not to fall in love with Babe, and by Doc, the attractive former lover of Meg, or may or may not want to stoke old fires.
In the end, the play is the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the future—but the telling is so true and touching and consistently hilarious that it will linger in the mind long after the curtain has descended.
Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Crimes of the Heart is an astonishing first play, initially presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, then Off-Broadway, and then on Broadway, where it established playwright Beth Henley as a major voice in our theatre.
Tickets are currently on sale for $20 with discounts available to seniors, students and alumni. Information is available online at pac.adelphi.edu or at the Lucia and Steven N. Fischer Box Office at 516.877.4000 or boxoffice@adelphi.edu. Regular box office hours are Tuesday through Friday from 1:00-6:00 p.m. The box office is also open two hours before most scheduled performances.
