Crimes of the Heart | Crimes of the Heart

At a glance:

Author: Beth Henley
First Published: 1982
Type of Work: Comedy
Time of Work: Fall, 1974
Setting: Hazlehurst, Mississippi
Principal Characters: Lenny MaGrath, Meg MaGrath, Babe Botrelle, Chick Boyle, Doc Porter, Barnette Lloyd
Genres: Drama, Comedy, Dark comedy
Subjects: Values, 1970’s, Family or family life, Self-discovery, Memory, Love or romance, Suicide, Abused persons, South or Southerners, Marriage, Alienation, Emotions, Women’s issues, Sisters, Singing or singers, Ethics
Locales: Memphis, TN, Hollywood, CA, Biloxi, MS, Hazlehurst, MS

Crimes of the Heart opens with an empty kitchen. It is late afternoon. Lenny enters and furtively tries—unsuccessfully—to stick a birthday candle into a cookie. She is interrupted, first by Chick, who blithely babbles insults about the MaGrath sisters and says that their presence in town has been her particular social cross, and second by Doc Porter, who brings Lenny both a bag of pecans and the news that her twenty-year-old horse has been struck dead by lightning. Finally alone, successfully attaching candle to cookie, Lenny sings “Happy Birthday” to...

Crimes of the Heart | Crimes of the Heart

At a glance:

The Play

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