If what we see in the movies and nearly every program on the Lifetime network is true, there is no stronger bond than the one between sisters. There is a connection that goes deeper than basic family ties, that transcends whatever differences exist and, hopefully, a bond that is stronger than the pain of years of resentment and disappointment.
At least that is the hopeful message found in the Saint Louis University Theatre’s production of Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart. The play concerns the three Macgrath sisters who have been recently reunited in their Hazlehurst, Miss., home. Youngest sister Babe (Magan Wiles) has caused a stir by attempting to kill her husband, and the scandal has brought Meg (Kelly Morris) home from California, where she is trying in vain to build a singing career.
Eldest sister Lenny (Heather Wood) has borne the brunt of the familial responsibility by caring for their off-stage grandfather and, at the age of 30, she is weathered and bordering on a nervous breakdown.
As Babe’s court case looms, her young lawyer Barnette Lloyd (Scott Hiller) offers a solid case against her abusive husband. Their semi-flirtatious behavior hints at something greater than the lawyer-client relationship, but Babe’s stunted sexuality keeps any potential romance from flourishing. The only other male character is Doc Watson (Marshall White), a man whose relationship with Meg has left him crippled both physically and emotionally.
As the play progresses, the tension caused by Babe’s scandal uncovers years of repression and hurt feelings, and the resulting scenes find the sisters working through self-discovery while realizing the true dysfunctions of their family.
All of the sisters are deeply wounded in their own ways, due in no small part to family history of depression and suicide. Babe’s infantile charms render her frustratingly simple yet strongly self-possessed. Meg’s vanquished dreams have broken her spirit, keeping her from being honest with her sisters and with herself. Wood shines in her portrayal of the weak and ignored Lenny, a character not unlike Lenny in Of Mice and Men, and the heart truly breaks for her lonely existence.
In a way the sisters’ individual flaws are complementary, so that one’s strength continually buoys the other’s weakness, keeping the family unit from completely capsizing. On stage, the Macgrath sisters work within their individual spheres to create a cohesive whole. The actors work from these deficits and, coupled with their dead-on Southern belle accents, portray a very convincing trio.
Their male counterparts come off as a bit weak and play their parts with less conviction (and less convincing diction) than the ladies, but that’s to be expected from this sister-driven play.
Lest the reader thinks that Crimes of the Heart will turn out all Steel Magnolias-like, have faith in Henley’s darkly comic vision. The subjects of death, depression and mistrust are dealt with evenly, and the play never comes off as unnecessarily heavy, and the sugary-sweet moments are quickly grounded. By the play’s end, very few issues are fully resolved but the situation is hardly hopeless.
Crimes of the Heart runs through Sunday at the Theatre in Xavier Hall.
