FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2005

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE THEATRE TO PRESENT 'CRIMES OF THE HEART'

On Thursday, April 28, Drake University Theatre will open its production of Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Crimes of the Heart," a tragic comedy about three sisters surviving crisis after crisis in a small Mississippi town.

Sometimes, when you're hurt, the only place you can go is home, and the only thing that can heal is family. The Magrath sisters of Hazlehurst, Miss., have had pain in their lives; all of them are still haunted by the suicide of their mother when they were children and the overbearing grandfather who raised them.

Lenny, the oldest, is convinced that no man will want her with her deformed ovary. The youngest, Babe, has just shot her rich and powerful husband in the stomach, but is much more concerned with her newfound love for the saxophone. Their sister, Meg, returns from Los Angeles, where she has failed as a singer, to be confronted by the man and the questionable reputation she left behind. Faced afresh with tragic circumstances, the sisters confront these situations in a hilarious and heartfelt manner, realizing that, in the end, only family matters.

Henley first received attention for her playwriting when "Crimes of the Heart" won the Actors Theater of Louisville's Great American Play Contest in 1978. Her first play, "Am I Blue," was produced while she attended Southern Methodist University.

"Crimes of the Heart" was first staged by the Actors Theater of Louisville in 1979. The year it opened on Broadway, it also won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It also garnered Henley a Tony for best play and an Oscar for the 1986 film adaptation. Her other plays include "The Miss Firecracker Contest," "The Wake of Jamey Foster," "The Debutante Ball," and "Impossible Marriage."

Deena Conley, Drake assistant professor of theatre arts, directs Drake's production of "Crimes of the Heart," which contains smoking and adult situations. Performances will start at 8 p.m. April 28, 29 and 30 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, in Studio 55 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue. Tickets may be purchased at the Harmon Fine Arts Center Box Office, (515) 271-3841. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens and $1 with a Drake ID.

Cutline for attached photo: From left: Nicole Schremp (Babe), Meredith Rensa (Meg) and Melissa Rutman (Lenny) star in Drake's production of "Crimes of the Heart."

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