A Little Bit Criminal Alongside a Lot of Heart     

By Michael J. Toscano
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, April 9, 2009; VA11

Playwright Beth Henley should be mostly pleased by the way Arlington County's Firebelly Productions has restored some of the sentiment she layered carefully into her dark and occasionally gritty comedy "Crimes of the Heart." So many troupes concentrate on the outlandishly funny parts that it is not always clear why this play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1981, along with the 1981 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best American play.

But Henley's remarkably nuanced story-telling gifts are on full display here. Director Patricia Foreman has guided her capable cast through the twists and turns of family dysfunction so carefully that most of the laughs seem to spring from reality, despite the absurd situations. There's precious little shtick here, in a play where performers could skate by on not much else, if they wished. Thankfully, Foreman and her cast prefer acting to mugging. They get most of the laughs and give the audience much more.

The Magrath sisters have a long list of festering miseries. They were raised in deep Mississippi by their "Old Granddaddy" after their father deserted them and their mother hanged herself and the family cat. Eldest daughter Lenny (Shelby Sours) seems doomed to spinsterhood, ashamed of her "shrunken ovary" and burdened with caring for the old man. He's in the hospital "with all those blood vessels popping in his brain." And her old horse has just been killed by lightning. Now it's her 30th birthday, she's alone and no one remembers.

Self-absorbed middle sister Meg (Melissa Graves) swoops in from California, where she had pursued a show business career that ended with her in the loony bin. And why is she back? Well, youngest sister Babe (Sonia Justl) has landed in jail for shooting her husband. The good-natured but somewhat dim-witted Babe isn't talking about what happened. Seems she has some secrets.

All the actors would have to do is serve it up with high energy and thick back-country accents, and it would be a bouncy comedy. They'd get laughs but miss the play's heart. Sours provides the grounding for the sisters, immediately finding the perfect balance between realism and whimsy. This solid center allows Graves and Justl, particularly Justl, to go for bigger performances without losing touch with the sense that this is an injured family doing its best to cope. It also allows Genevieve James to go completely (and properly) over the top as screeching cousin Chick, the annoying and overbearing interloper whose lack of self-awareness makes her somebody audiences love to hate.

The women in the cast seem to really listen to each other, their occasionally strong words ricocheting right off their faces. Justl is a joy to watch as she exudes warmth and a sense of childlike innocence, which is remarkable considering some of Babe's actions.

Jonathan Lee Taylor, as Babe's smitten lawyer Barnette, is low-key and effective; his understated work stands out amid the mayhem of the more colorfully drawn characters. Mark Ludwick has the small but difficult role of Doc, Meg's old flame, and he never quite bridges the man's contradictions. Doc is a conflicted man, married and a father as we meet him, but apparently still carrying a torch for Meg.

Foreman's pacing is dynamic, building energy as the story unfolds and allowing her actors to serve up some of the comedy deadpan, rather than pushing it. The only flaw, however, is a major one. Late in the play, Meg comes in after a night of carousing with Doc. Graves attacks the scene with such intensity that it sucks up all the energy in the intimate theater. That leaves nothing left to play with moments later where the play's biggest laughs usually explode, following an unusual response to hearing bad news. It's a missed opportunity for some big laughs before the final touching scene, in which the sisters subtly honor their sense of family.

"Crimes of the Heart" continues through April 19, performed by Firebelly Productions at Theatre on the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington. Showtime is 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. For tickets, call 703-409-2372. For tickets and information, visit http://www.firebellyproductions.net.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/08/AR2009040801691.html