By: Paula Y. Bickham

Paula Y. Bickham — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:45:16 +0000

All in all this made for quite an enjoyable production. It was a tad slow in the beginning, but once rolling it became engaging. This is the second Alexandria theater I have visited in the past several weeks that featured performances related to sisters who have gone their separate ways only to be brought together because of tragedy. They end up discovering things about themselves and each other, thus forming a strong bond. The actresses in ‘Crimes of the Heart’ did an amazing job with three Mississppi ‘sistahs’ who had such differing personalities. Not to ignore the male actors in this production, as they were wonderful, but I must throw in my two cents worth about the ladies, and to keep this short. Catherine Nelson Hassett’s ‘Meg’ was truly a joy to watch. Miss Hassett was so natural in her movements, facial expressions, and dialog. When ‘Meg’ made her entrances we were going to have a good time. She was also the strongest of the siblings. It took a little getting used to Cynthia Huesman’s ‘Lenny’ until I realized it was a nervous, fussy personality she was supposed to portray – kind of like Rue McClanahan fueled on fluster. ‘Lenny’ became my hero as she transformed into a lioness when chasing away Chick. Hannah Gavagan’s ‘Babe’ spent little (if any) time remorseful. She rather made light of it all in a comical sort of way. She was childish, carefree, and just could not for the life of her get it right in attempts to do away with herself. Miss Gavagan did all of this so well (and so comically).

Comments on: Tapestry Theatre Crimes of The Heart

By: Paula Y. Bickham