| . | 03/03/2008
Crimes of the Heart
By: Victor Gluck
Sarah Paulson, Jennifer Dundas and Lily Rabe
(photo credit: Joan Marcus)
Film and stage star Kathleen Turner has turned director and her maiden effort is a solidly entertaining revival for the Roundabout Theatre Company of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize comedy, Crimes of the Heart. While this Southern Gothic tragicomedy has been in past played as farce, going for the easy laugh, for this second New York revival following one at The Second Stage in 2001, Turner cleverly aims for a comedy of character and the resulting domestic dramedy works just as well, possibly better. It also gives actresses Jennifer Dundas, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe some juicy roles that they make all their own, despite the accomplished players in whose footsteps they follow.
It is not surprising that Turner, whose own successful stage roles include Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? should prove to be adept at obtaining full-bodied, believable performances from actresses. And the trio of Dundas, Paulsen and Rabe as the Magrath sisters of Hazelhurst, Mississippi, is totally credible as siblings who have bonded through adversity. The film version was criticized for the fact that Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek were not believable as members of one family. However, here the entire cast is pitch-perfect and this play proves to be absorbing theater.
It is the fall of 1974 and the Magrath sisters of Hazelhurst are having “a bad day.” Turning 30, Lenny (short for Leonora) first discovers that no one has remembered her birthday, and then she is informed that her pet horse has been struck by lightning the night before. Meg, 27, the hard drinking, hard living sister who managed to get away, returns home from a stint in Hollywood, her singing career entirely over. She is immediately informed that Doc Porter, the boy friend she ran away from all those years ago, now married with two children, is back in town due to his father’s illness. And Babe, aged 24, has just shot her husband Zachary because as she explains she just “didn’t like his looks. “ Unfortunately for her, Zachary (who has survived the attack) is the most powerful man in town. To make matters worse, Granddad, who brought up the girls after their mother’s suicide is in the hospital with the latest in a series of strokes and doesn’t seem to be getting any better. What is a girl to do?
In the wrong hands, this could be the most outrageous soap opera, or over-the-top black comedy. However, under the skilled direction of Turner, this plot is simply the story of a group of eccentrics who have had very bad luck. Dundas is sweet as the spinster sister who has stayed home to take care of Granddad and put her own life on the back burner. Paulson has a great deal of pizzazz as the outgoing sister who has lived her life exactly as she has wanted. Following her ingénue roles in recent Broadway revivals of Steel Magnolias and Heartbreak House, Rabe has an innocent, otherworldly quality as Babe for whom real life is just a little too much.
This is a true ensemble and the rest of the cast is equally endearing: Jessica Stone, hilarious as the gossipy cousin Chick who just can’t keep from bringing up unpleasant family business; Patch Darragh as the good-natured Doc Porter, Meg’s cast-off boy friend who still carries a torch for her despite the limp he acquired because of her refusal to evacuate during Hurricane Camille; and the personable Chandler Williams as the young lawyer, son of a family friend, who has his own personal reasons for wanting to save Babe and put her husband behind bars.
Anna Louizos’ wonderful set on a thrust stage allows us to look into half of the downstairs of the Magrath home, a totally realistic kitchen and dining room which help ground the tragicomic events in everyday terms. David Murin’s costumes recall the seventies, as well as define these small town folk. The subtlety with which Natasha Katz has lit the show belies the artistry that makes it unobtrusive yet atmospheric. Composer John Gromada, wig designer Paul Huntley, and dialect coach Deborah Hecht have all contributed to the overall success.
After almost three decades, Crimes of the Heart not only doesn’t feel dated, it reveals new depths when played as a comedy of character rather than a farce. Piloted by the capable hand of Kathleen Turner, this talented company makes the Magrath sisters’ problems and quirkiness into a poignant family drama.
(through April 13)
Roundabout Theatre Company, Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, Laura Pels Theatre, 111 W. 46th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, call 212-719-1300 or http://www.roundabouttheatre.org
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