Crimes of the Heart

Even an imperfect family is family enough. This assertion rings true in Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, which tells the zany story of a dysfunctional southern family with passion, loads of humor, and a heck of a lot of heart. Each Magrath sister — back together in the scorching heat of Hazlehurst, Mississippi — is at a turning point in her life. With all its trouble, the Magrath household starts to resemble the eye of a hurricane as the world around it falls to pieces. Ultimately, in all the wackiness, the family members look to each other — and to past loves and lawyers — for strength and understanding. The Magrath sisters have emotional issues, to be sure, but those issues are coupled with an enormous capacity to love when the sisters come to terms with their own crimes of the heart.