Loyola University Department of Theatre Arts & Dance and director Artemis Preeshl closes the mainstage season with Beth Henley’s riveting classic Crimes of the Heart that still speaks volumes to modern audiences
CRIMES OF THE HEART by Beth Henley
Directed by Artemis Preeshl
From time to time a play comes along that restores one's faith in our theatre… —NY Magazine
Loyola University Department of Theatre Arts & Dance and director Artemis Preeshl cap off the mainstage season with Beth Henley’s riveting classic Crimes of the Heart with a splash of Southern Gothic charm.
Beth Henley’s tragicomic play tantalizes from the start with an attempted murder. Harkening back to Horace Warpole’s The Castle of Otranto, the first Gothic novel, the three sisters achieve release from the menacing ghosts of the past.
The Pulitzer-prize winning play opens as Lenny, the eldest sister, lights her birthday candle alone. Meg, the middle sister, returns unexpectedly from her singing gig in Los Angeles. Babe, the youngest sister, shoots her Senator-husband after he discovered his wife’s interracial affair with an underage boy. The three sisters weather the storm of race and class to become closer than ever.
In Crimes of the Heart, the McGrath sisters of Hazlehurst, Mississippi reveal lurid family secrets with a dark, rich dash of humor. In the aftermath of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, these post-Southern belles critique and celebrate the Old South to start life anew.
Crimes of the Heart will run in the Marquette Theatre at Loyola University, 6363 St. Charles Avenue, on March 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 @ 7:30 p.m. and March 15 @ 2:00 p.m.