Preview of 'Crimes of the Heart' by Backyard Theater Ensemble

Backyard Theater Ensemble presents

Crimes of the Heart

by Beth Henley

November 6-9 and 13-16, 8:00 & 2:00 Performances

Tickets $20, $17 for Students and Seniors

The scene is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, 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 thirty 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 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. 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.

Performances will be presented at the Thomaston Opera House Arts Center
158 Main Street
Thomaston, Connecticut 06787

Click for tickets

Click here to listen to the podcast of Backstage with Johnny O’s interview with in-studio guests Sybil Chamberlain and Tina Parziale as they fill you in on the Backyard Theater Ensemble and their production of Crimes of the Heart.