Mainstage play ‘Crimes of the Heart’ teems with ‘humanity and humor’
Performance: Goshen College Mainstage Play – “Crimes of the Heart,” by Beth Henley
Date and time: Nov. 9, 10 & 17 at 8 p.m.; Nov. 11 & 18 at 3 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Umble Center
Cost: $10 general admission, $5 students/seniors/GC employees. Tickets can be purchased online at goshen.edu/tickets, by calling 574-535-7566 or at the door beginning one hour before show time.
*Content Warning: Contains references to attempted suicide and verbal descriptions of domestic violence.
The Goshen College Theater Department will present the fall Mainstage play, “Crimes of the Heart,” by Beth Henley, on Nov. 9, 10 & 17 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 11 & 18 at 3 p.m. The performance on Nov. 18 is ASL interpreted. All performances are in the Umble Center Theater.
“Crimes of the Heart” depicts three 20-something sisters banding together to navigate life’s struggles. Set in Hazelhurst, Mississippi in 1974, Henley’s realistic, but awkwardly comedic play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play ultimately celebrates our human need to be truly present in each other’s lives through good times and bad.
Henley’s play was initially presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, then Off-Broadway, and then on Broadway where it established the author as a major voice in the theater. Warm-hearted, irreverent, zany and brilliantly imaginative, the play teems with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of the three Mississippi sisters.
“Crimes of the Heart is not so much about ‘crimes’ as it is about ‘heart,’” says director Doug Liechty Caskey. “We see this come through clearly when the three McGrath sisters, each faced with their own hardship or adversity, bring their distinct personalities and perspectives to take a seat at the kitchen table. Through tears of fear, joy, anger and loss, it is the shared laughter and love of family that will help them face life together.”
Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 students/seniors/GC employees, and are available online at goshen.edu/tickets, by calling at 574-535-7566, or at the door one hour before the show.
CAST AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Cast
Lenny Magrath: Emmy Rupp
Chick Boyle: Cristina Jantz
Doc Porter: Benjamin Reichenbach
Meg Magrath: Abigail Greaser
Babe Botrelle: Laura Miller
Barnette Lloyd: Ian Keim
Production Team
Director: Doug Liechty Caskey
Technical Director: Phil Weaver-Stoesz
Producer: Anna Kurtz Kuk
Stage Manager: Rachel Buckley
Set Designers: Jen Kazmierczak, Andrew Moeggenborg
Light Designers: Aaron Kaufmann, Nathan Berkey, Jacob Claassen
Costume Designer: Oliver Duell
Hair & Makeup Designer: Shianne Harrison
Props Designer: Violet Smucker
Sound Designer: Claire Mitchel
Dramaturg: Katie Hendrickson
Assistant Technical Director: Ben Meyer Reimer
Assistant Stage Managers: Riley Borntreger, Gloria Bontrager-Thomas
Costume Assistant: Alex Miller
Props Assistants: Tobias Garcia, Peter Shirk
Sound Assistant: Courtney Crapser
Hair/Make-up Crew: Emma Sklar
Light Board Operator: Adam Hinegardner
Sound Board Operator: Courtney Crapser
Master Carpenter: Levi Glick
Master Electrician: Nathan Berkey
Poster/Program Designer: Kristin Troyer