You can’t really ask for a better plug than to have Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Beth Henley, say, “I don’t feel very close to many theaters, but McCarter I really feel a kinship with so I’m just so pleased that they picked my play. It sounds like it’s going to be a great production.” In a recent interview about our upcoming production, Henley reflects on Crimes of the Heart: what originally inspired it and how her relationship to the work has changed in the thirty years since it premiered in New York City. The full interview can be found on the show’s website, but here are some context-free highlights:

“I think I have more perspective on their youth, and I think the play has a hope to it because they’re young.”

“What happens when something goes terribly awry and the family’s already been kicked in the face?”

“One thing that I think is great that the play has, is giving women actresses the opportunity to show their skills. You have to be a comedian and you have to be able to do something dramatic to make this play work.”

“Now I see it as very much a play of its time in such a specific way that it, perhaps, is why it is more universal.”

“In the South, they always say people talk a little bit longer because you’re sitting out on the porch.”

“Your pain is not precious, just get on with it or make a joke of it.”

“The thing is people in the South can present their pain but not make it a burden on others.”

“Sometimes the play knows more than you do …”

More about what Henley learned from Crimes of the Heart as well as other engaging material about characters, setting, and the creative team behind the production can be found on the show’s website-be sure to visit! http://www.mccarter.org/crimesoftheheart/

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 at 5:04 pm and is filed under 2010-2011 Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.