Crimes of the Heart

BABE: “After I shot Zackery, I put the gun down on the piano bench, and then I went out into the kitchen and made up a pitcher of lemonade.”
Crimes of the Heart won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Set in Mississippi in the 1970s, the story explores the plight of the three eccentric MaGrath sisters who are betrayed by their passions and must come face-to-face with the consequences. It’s witty, irreverent, charming, and unapologetic. While light-hearted humor draws audiences in, the play takes unexpected turns, and suddenly, it invites us to examine troubling truths about life, love, and the endless complexity of human relationships. The arcs of the sisters’ journeys reveal innumerable definitions of what it means to be a woman, reminding us that every person sees and experiences the world in their own entirely unique way.
“While this play overflows with infectious high spirits, it is also, unmistakably, the tale of a very troubled family. Such is Miss Henley’s prodigious talent that she can serve us pain as though it were a piece of cake.” — NY Times
Guest Director
Carley Lyon returns to W&J after directing Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody on the Olin stage in 2021. By day, Carley is a freelance writer for nonprofit organizations and small businesses in the Pittsburgh region. By night, she is a performer and director at local theatre companies, most recently directing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens at Little Lake Theatre in Canonsburg.