rs for on and m: - Everyman Theatre

Everyman Theatre gratefully
acknowledges the following donors for
generously supporting the Education and
Community Engagement Program:
The Dillon Fund
Edward St. John Foundation
The Goldsmith Family Foundation
Henry & Ruth B. Rosenberg Foundation
Jean & Sidney Silber Foundation
Lockhart Vaughan Foundation
Muller Charitable Foundation
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
T. Rowe Price Foundation
A note from the Education Director
ENGAGE. INSPIRE. TRANSFORM
Education at Everyman
Upcoming Events!
Reserve a space now!
Welcome, students!
The Everyman High School Matinee Program aims to provide you with
New Teen Classes:
the opportunity to experience a live piece of theatre and offer
Character Development with Beth Hylton
experiences both in the theatre and in the classroom that expose you to
Musical Theatre 16+ with Joseph Ritsch
the power of theatre. We want to challenge you to engage with the play;
Unarmed Stage Combat with Lewis Shaw
to feel, think, interact and create within the dramatic context. You are
Costume Design with Julie Heneghan
always welcome at Everyman and we hope to see you return as adults
who support the Arts.
An Everyman Study Guide provides you and your teachers an entry
For more information and to register please visit:
http://eman.tht.re/class101
point into the play. By outlining important background information on
the play, as well as pertinent historical and cultural context, you will be
able to participate more deeply with the theatre experience. We hope
you have had a chance to read the play and explore the suggested
discussions. If not, we will dive-in head first during our post-show
workshops.
Crimes of the Heart is now considered an American Classic. Although
quite specific in voice and setting, Beth Henley created a narrative that
speaks to a bigger audience about bigger, more universal themes. I am
personally excited to engage with our young audiences about these
themes and interrogate whether the play: story, characters, and
conflicts are still relevant today, to an urban audience, out of the south.
I look forward to taking the journey with you; see you in the Theatre!
Everyman Theatre’s High School Summer Acting
Intensive
Everyman Theatre's High School Summer Acting Intensive is a fourweek course designed for actors of high school age seeking to build their
acting skills in a challenging and supportive environment. Classes follow
the conservatory model and guide students in a variety of activities designed to address individual needs and take them to the next level. The
program culminates in a student performance at Everyman Theatre.
For more information and registration form please visit:
http://eman.tht.re/hssai14
Nora Stillman Burke
Education Director
OR CALL EVERYMAN EDUCATION AT 443-615-7055 ext. 7142
Resources and primary sources
BETH HENLEY
Works Cited:
Beth Henley was born in Jackson, Mississippi.
Alekson, Paula, Lauren Durdach, Carrie Hughes, Emilia LaPenta, Erica
Nagel, Janice Paran.
“Crimes of the Heart.” Ed. Carrie Hughes,
Adam Immerwahr, and Erica Nagel. McCarter Theatre: 2011. Web.
Jones, John Griffin.
Insight into the playwright
“Beth Henley.” Mississippi Writers Talking.
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Print.
McTague, Sylvia Skaggs (ed) (2004). The Muse upon My Shoulder:
Discussions of the Creative Process. Cranbury, New Jersey: Fairleigh
Dickinson University Press. Print.
Zhang, Junfu. “Black-White Relations: The American Dilemma.”
Perspectives 1.4 (2000). Web.
She was one of four sisters and daughter to an
attorney father and actress mother. Her plays
have been produced internationally and translated into over 10 languages.
Crimes of the Heart was Henley's first
professionally produced play and received
impressive accolades. The play opened at the
Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1978, where it
Photo by Susan Johann
won the New American Play Contest. It then moved to New York and
was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club and continued to win
awards. Crimes of the Heart won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1981,
as well as the award for Best American Play of 1981 from the New York
Bibliography:
Drama Critics' Circle. It earned Henley a nomination for a Tony Award,
Craig, Carolyn Casey. “Beth Henley’s Funny-Terrible World View.”
Best Adapted Screenplay. Henley has stated that growing up with 3 sis-
Women Pulitzer Playwrights. Jefferson: McFarland & Company,
2004. Print
Fesmire, Julia A. Beth Henley: A Casebook. New York: Routledge,
2002. Print.
Plunka, Gene A. The Plays of Beth Henley: A critical study. Jefferson:
McFarland & Company, 2005. Print.
and her screenplay for the film version was nominated for an Oscar for
ters was a major inspiration for Crimes of the Heart (McTague).
A common theme in Henley’s writing includes female characters who
are seeking out their identity within their family or the community. Her
plays often explore small town southern life and the social norms and
expectations that specifically oppress the female gender. She writes
with a nuance of Black Comedy exploring juxtaposed themes that dwell
in the humorous and tragic, which has led her to be considered a writer
of the Southern Gothic genre along with other women like Flannery
O’Connor and Eudora Welty.
The Play
SUMMARY
Beth Henley's dark comedy brings you into the Hazelhurst, Mississippi home
of the Magrath sisters. Babe has just shot her husband because she didn't
like his looks. Meg is back in town after a failed attempt in the music business and a nervous breakdown. And poor Lenny - everyone has forgotten her
30th birthday… Plus, her pet horse was just struck by lightning! Bad luck
certainly runs deep among the Magrath clan. But with warm-hearted laughs
and touching family moments, the sisters forgive the past, face the present,
and embrace the future in this contemporary American stage classic.
Thoughts for discussion:

After reading this brief summary, what do you expect to experience?
What are you first impressions of the story?

Is this a family you think you could relate to? Why or why not?
CHARACTER PROFILES
Lenora (Lenny) Magrath: 30. Older sister to Meg and Babe. She is
celebrating her 30th birthday. She is maternal, responsible and a little highstrung, as she is trying desperately to keep things together for the
family. She’s lonely having called off a relationship with a man in Memphis.
Margaret (Meg) Magrath: 27. Middle sister to Lenny and Babe. She was
popular and a bit wild in high school. She ran off to California, abandoning
her then-boyfriend, to pursue her singing career, which ultimately stalled
and she had a breakdown. She has now returned home.
Rebecca (Babe) Botrelle: 24. The youngest of the Magrath sisters. She
has shot her wealthy, powerful lawyer husband, because she “didn’t like his
looks.” She’s maybe a little crazy, but sweet natured.
Chick Boyle: 29. Chick is first cousin to the Magrath sisters. She is a
demanding relative who exudes a fake Southern charm. Overly critical of the
Magrath family, she is extremely concerned with appearances and the
community’s view of her.
Student notes
YOUR THOUGHTS, IMPRESSIONS, MOMENTS OF
DISCOVERY...
Historical and cultural context
Doc Porter: 30. Meg’s old boyfriend. Despite a promise of marriage, Meg
abandoned Doc in hurricane Camille and he was badly injured. He has
recently returned to Hazelhurst with his (Yankee!) wife and children.
RACE IN THE 1970s, cont.
Barnette Lloyd: 26. Babe’s lawyer. Barnette is young, bright, and
very true in Beth Henley’s Mississippi South. She once spoke in an interview
ambitious. Babe’s case is his first real case. He holds a grudge against Babe’s
with Mississippi Writers Talking about a story she heard: “Walter Cronkite was
husband Zachary and wants to get revenge. He also has a deeper fondness for
sitting up on the front porch of these rich people’s house in the South, and this
Babe.
little black kid came up and said he wanted ice cream, and the man came down
and socked him in the face and said, ‘Don’t you ever come around to this front
Thoughts for discussion:
door again.’” She would later use this to inform Babe’s storyline in Crimes of the

Do you find any of these characters immediately intriguing? Who? Why?

Can you personally identify with any of these characters?
Heart.
In addition to general attitudes about race, societal expectations of behavior
were slow to change as well. Even though interracial marriage had been
SETTING
legalized and there were many representations of interracial couples in popular
Hazelhurst is a real town in Copiah
media, it was still widely considered taboo by both the white community and the
County,
black community to engage in an interracial relationship. Curiously enough,
southern town is located thirty miles
gender played a role in the stigma of interracial dating. It was more acceptable
south of the Mississippi state capital,
for a white man to date a black woman than for a black man to date a white
Jackson, and was founded just before
woman.
the Civil War. Today it is a thriving
Beth Henley’s experience of growing up in the south and living through the
little town with a population under
changes in the southern culture during the 1960s and 1970s greatly informed
5,000 and it even has a Walmart su-
her writing, as is present throughout Crimes of the Heart.
per store. Beth Henley’s grandparents lived in Hazelhurst and the playwright
Mississippi.
This
small
spent many summers there as a child.
Thoughts for Discussion


In an interview with McCarter Theatre, Beth Henley expressed (regarding Hazlehurst as the setting of her play) “I liked the idea of how really small it was, and
Where are we now as a society compared to where we were in the 1970s in
so everyone knew everyone’s business so easily and there were social codes that
terms of race relations?
were pretty engrained.”
What’s changed for the black community since the 1970s? What hasn’t
Thoughts for discussion:
changed?

What do you think Hazlehurst was like in 1979? When you imagine such a
place what sights, smells and sounds come to mind?

What did Beth Henley mean by “social codes”? What do you think they
were? Do we still have social codes today? Are they the same social codes?
Historical and cultural context
Historical and cultural context
SOUTHERN GOTHIC
RACE IN THE 1970s
"The reason things can be so funny is that they can be so sad; the reason
they can be so beautiful is that they can be so ugly. If all there was to life
was anguish, it wouldn't be so bad."
The 1960s were a decade full of progress. The Civil Rights Movement continued
-Beth Henley (from Beth Henley: A Casebook)
to grow its efforts to rid the legal system of the discriminatory Jim Crow laws,
which legally sanctioned segregation of everything from public schools to
drinking fountains. By the end of the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement had
Southern Gothic is a 20th century style of writing that, similar to dark comedy,
fought and won many landmark legal cases that ensured the end of
mixes the tragic with the comic. Though Southern Gothic writers borrow
discriminatory laws: schools were desegregated, interracial marriage was
elements of the grotesque and macabre from the Gothic style of writing, their
legalized, racial restrictions on voting were outlawed, and discrimination based
stories are far more humorous than the suspenseful, horror-filled stories of the
on race was made illegal.
Gothic style. The uniqueness of the genre comes from its writers, who all hail
from the American South and draw from that culture. It’s not uncommon in
Southern Gothic storytelling, for characters to express personal tragedy by
laughing it off or making a joke about it in absurd and exaggerated ways. Beth
Henley helps to explain this sense of home-grown eccentricity: “I think there
was some sort of definite underbelly [in the South] of: your pain is not precious,
just get on with it, or make a joke of it.”
Though Beth Henley is seen as a Southern Gothic writer, she doesn’t consider
herself to be part of the genre. As she states: “I didn't consciously say that I was
going to be Southern Gothic or grotesque. I just write things that are interesting
to me. I guess maybe that's just inbred in the South.” (Jones)
Because of these victories in the previous decade, the 1970s held greater
opportunities for black men and women. Between 1970 and 1980, the number
of black students at colleges and universities doubled, and the number of black
politicians elected to public office more than tripled. The emergence of a black
middle class not only shortened the income gap between white and black
families, but it also allowed for a large increase in the number of black families
who owned homes (Zhang).
Despite all this progress and
the improvements for the
black
community
as
a
whole, the general attitudes
Other prominent Southern Gothic writers include: Tennessee Williams,
and prejudices of many
Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Harper Lee and Truman
white Americans—many of
Capote.
whom lived in the South—
Thoughts for Discussion
remained the same during

Do you think you might be interested or drawn to this style of writing? Why
or why not?

much of the 1970s. White
Southerners in particular had
trouble adjusting to a new
Students sit during a study session at a
Mississippi junior high school Jan. 8, 1970.
Review the plot, characters, and setting of Crimes of the Heart described
way of thinking. Many of them held a lifelong belief that they were better as a
in this study guide. What elements help to support the play’s designation
race, since that’s what they had been told their entire lives, and they were
as Southern Gothic?
neither able nor willing to suddenly change that belief (Alekson et al). This was
Historical and cultural context
Historical and cultural context
SOUTHERN GOTHIC
RACE IN THE 1970s
"The reason things can be so funny is that they can be so sad; the reason
they can be so beautiful is that they can be so ugly. If all there was to life
was anguish, it wouldn't be so bad."
The 1960s were a decade full of progress. The Civil Rights Movement continued
-Beth Henley (from Beth Henley: A Casebook)
to grow its efforts to rid the legal system of the discriminatory Jim Crow laws,
which legally sanctioned segregation of everything from public schools to
drinking fountains. By the end of the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement had
Southern Gothic is a 20th century style of writing that, similar to dark comedy,
fought and won many landmark legal cases that ensured the end of
mixes the tragic with the comic. Though Southern Gothic writers borrow
discriminatory laws: schools were desegregated, interracial marriage was
elements of the grotesque and macabre from the Gothic style of writing, their
legalized, racial restrictions on voting were outlawed, and discrimination based
stories are far more humorous than the suspenseful, horror-filled stories of the
on race was made illegal.
Gothic style. The uniqueness of the genre comes from its writers, who all hail
from the American South and draw from that culture. It’s not uncommon in
Southern Gothic storytelling, for characters to express personal tragedy by
laughing it off or making a joke about it in absurd and exaggerated ways. Beth
Henley helps to explain this sense of home-grown eccentricity: “I think there
was some sort of definite underbelly [in the South] of: your pain is not precious,
just get on with it, or make a joke of it.”
Though Beth Henley is seen as a Southern Gothic writer, she doesn’t consider
herself to be part of the genre. As she states: “I didn't consciously say that I was
going to be Southern Gothic or grotesque. I just write things that are interesting
to me. I guess maybe that's just inbred in the South.” (Jones)
Because of these victories in the previous decade, the 1970s held greater
opportunities for black men and women. Between 1970 and 1980, the number
of black students at colleges and universities doubled, and the number of black
politicians elected to public office more than tripled. The emergence of a black
middle class not only shortened the income gap between white and black
families, but it also allowed for a large increase in the number of black families
who owned homes (Zhang).
Despite all this progress and
the improvements for the
black
community
as
a
whole, the general attitudes
Other prominent Southern Gothic writers include: Tennessee Williams,
and prejudices of many
Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Harper Lee and Truman
white Americans—many of
Capote.
whom lived in the South—
Thoughts for Discussion
remained the same during

Do you think you might be interested or drawn to this style of writing? Why
or why not?

much of the 1970s. White
Southerners in particular had
trouble adjusting to a new
Students sit during a study session at a
Mississippi junior high school Jan. 8, 1970.
Review the plot, characters, and setting of Crimes of the Heart described
way of thinking. Many of them held a lifelong belief that they were better as a
in this study guide. What elements help to support the play’s designation
race, since that’s what they had been told their entire lives, and they were
as Southern Gothic?
neither able nor willing to suddenly change that belief (Alekson et al). This was
Historical and cultural context
Doc Porter: 30. Meg’s old boyfriend. Despite a promise of marriage, Meg
abandoned Doc in hurricane Camille and he was badly injured. He has
recently returned to Hazelhurst with his (Yankee!) wife and children.
RACE IN THE 1970s, cont.
Barnette Lloyd: 26. Babe’s lawyer. Barnette is young, bright, and
very true in Beth Henley’s Mississippi South. She once spoke in an interview
ambitious. Babe’s case is his first real case. He holds a grudge against Babe’s
with Mississippi Writers Talking about a story she heard: “Walter Cronkite was
husband Zachary and wants to get revenge. He also has a deeper fondness for
sitting up on the front porch of these rich people’s house in the South, and this
Babe.
little black kid came up and said he wanted ice cream, and the man came down
and socked him in the face and said, ‘Don’t you ever come around to this front
Thoughts for discussion:
door again.’” She would later use this to inform Babe’s storyline in Crimes of the

Do you find any of these characters immediately intriguing? Who? Why?

Can you personally identify with any of these characters?
Heart.
In addition to general attitudes about race, societal expectations of behavior
were slow to change as well. Even though interracial marriage had been
SETTING
legalized and there were many representations of interracial couples in popular
Hazelhurst is a real town in Copiah
media, it was still widely considered taboo by both the white community and the
County,
black community to engage in an interracial relationship. Curiously enough,
southern town is located thirty miles
gender played a role in the stigma of interracial dating. It was more acceptable
south of the Mississippi state capital,
for a white man to date a black woman than for a black man to date a white
Jackson, and was founded just before
woman.
the Civil War. Today it is a thriving
Beth Henley’s experience of growing up in the south and living through the
little town with a population under
changes in the southern culture during the 1960s and 1970s greatly informed
5,000 and it even has a Walmart su-
her writing, as is present throughout Crimes of the Heart.
per store. Beth Henley’s grandparents lived in Hazelhurst and the playwright
Mississippi.
This
small
spent many summers there as a child.
Thoughts for Discussion


In an interview with McCarter Theatre, Beth Henley expressed (regarding Hazlehurst as the setting of her play) “I liked the idea of how really small it was, and
Where are we now as a society compared to where we were in the 1970s in
so everyone knew everyone’s business so easily and there were social codes that
terms of race relations?
were pretty engrained.”
What’s changed for the black community since the 1970s? What hasn’t
Thoughts for discussion:
changed?

What do you think Hazlehurst was like in 1979? When you imagine such a
place what sights, smells and sounds come to mind?

What did Beth Henley mean by “social codes”? What do you think they
were? Do we still have social codes today? Are they the same social codes?
The Play
SUMMARY
Beth Henley's dark comedy brings you into the Hazelhurst, Mississippi home
of the Magrath sisters. Babe has just shot her husband because she didn't
like his looks. Meg is back in town after a failed attempt in the music business and a nervous breakdown. And poor Lenny - everyone has forgotten her
30th birthday… Plus, her pet horse was just struck by lightning! Bad luck
certainly runs deep among the Magrath clan. But with warm-hearted laughs
and touching family moments, the sisters forgive the past, face the present,
and embrace the future in this contemporary American stage classic.
Thoughts for discussion:

After reading this brief summary, what do you expect to experience?
What are you first impressions of the story?

Is this a family you think you could relate to? Why or why not?
CHARACTER PROFILES
Lenora (Lenny) Magrath: 30. Older sister to Meg and Babe. She is
celebrating her 30th birthday. She is maternal, responsible and a little highstrung, as she is trying desperately to keep things together for the
family. She’s lonely having called off a relationship with a man in Memphis.
Margaret (Meg) Magrath: 27. Middle sister to Lenny and Babe. She was
popular and a bit wild in high school. She ran off to California, abandoning
her then-boyfriend, to pursue her singing career, which ultimately stalled
and she had a breakdown. She has now returned home.
Rebecca (Babe) Botrelle: 24. The youngest of the Magrath sisters. She
has shot her wealthy, powerful lawyer husband, because she “didn’t like his
looks.” She’s maybe a little crazy, but sweet natured.
Chick Boyle: 29. Chick is first cousin to the Magrath sisters. She is a
demanding relative who exudes a fake Southern charm. Overly critical of the
Magrath family, she is extremely concerned with appearances and the
community’s view of her.
Student notes
YOUR THOUGHTS, IMPRESSIONS, MOMENTS OF
DISCOVERY...
Resources and primary sources
BETH HENLEY
Works Cited:
Beth Henley was born in Jackson, Mississippi.
Alekson, Paula, Lauren Durdach, Carrie Hughes, Emilia LaPenta, Erica
Nagel, Janice Paran.
“Crimes of the Heart.” Ed. Carrie Hughes,
Adam Immerwahr, and Erica Nagel. McCarter Theatre: 2011. Web.
Jones, John Griffin.
Insight into the playwright
“Beth Henley.” Mississippi Writers Talking.
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Print.
McTague, Sylvia Skaggs (ed) (2004). The Muse upon My Shoulder:
Discussions of the Creative Process. Cranbury, New Jersey: Fairleigh
Dickinson University Press. Print.
Zhang, Junfu. “Black-White Relations: The American Dilemma.”
Perspectives 1.4 (2000). Web.
She was one of four sisters and daughter to an
attorney father and actress mother. Her plays
have been produced internationally and translated into over 10 languages.
Crimes of the Heart was Henley's first
professionally produced play and received
impressive accolades. The play opened at the
Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1978, where it
Photo by Susan Johann
won the New American Play Contest. It then moved to New York and
was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club and continued to win
awards. Crimes of the Heart won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1981,
as well as the award for Best American Play of 1981 from the New York
Bibliography:
Drama Critics' Circle. It earned Henley a nomination for a Tony Award,
Craig, Carolyn Casey. “Beth Henley’s Funny-Terrible World View.”
Best Adapted Screenplay. Henley has stated that growing up with 3 sis-
Women Pulitzer Playwrights. Jefferson: McFarland & Company,
2004. Print
Fesmire, Julia A. Beth Henley: A Casebook. New York: Routledge,
2002. Print.
Plunka, Gene A. The Plays of Beth Henley: A critical study. Jefferson:
McFarland & Company, 2005. Print.
and her screenplay for the film version was nominated for an Oscar for
ters was a major inspiration for Crimes of the Heart (McTague).
A common theme in Henley’s writing includes female characters who
are seeking out their identity within their family or the community. Her
plays often explore small town southern life and the social norms and
expectations that specifically oppress the female gender. She writes
with a nuance of Black Comedy exploring juxtaposed themes that dwell
in the humorous and tragic, which has led her to be considered a writer
of the Southern Gothic genre along with other women like Flannery
O’Connor and Eudora Welty.
A note from the Education Director
ENGAGE. INSPIRE. TRANSFORM
Education at Everyman
Upcoming Events!
Reserve a space now!
Welcome, students!
The Everyman High School Matinee Program aims to provide you with
New Teen Classes:
the opportunity to experience a live piece of theatre and offer
Character Development with Beth Hylton
experiences both in the theatre and in the classroom that expose you to
Musical Theatre 16+ with Joseph Ritsch
the power of theatre. We want to challenge you to engage with the play;
Unarmed Stage Combat with Lewis Shaw
to feel, think, interact and create within the dramatic context. You are
Costume Design with Julie Heneghan
always welcome at Everyman and we hope to see you return as adults
who support the Arts.
An Everyman Study Guide provides you and your teachers an entry
For more information and to register please visit:
http://eman.tht.re/class101
point into the play. By outlining important background information on
the play, as well as pertinent historical and cultural context, you will be
able to participate more deeply with the theatre experience. We hope
you have had a chance to read the play and explore the suggested
discussions. If not, we will dive-in head first during our post-show
workshops.
Crimes of the Heart is now considered an American Classic. Although
quite specific in voice and setting, Beth Henley created a narrative that
speaks to a bigger audience about bigger, more universal themes. I am
personally excited to engage with our young audiences about these
themes and interrogate whether the play: story, characters, and
conflicts are still relevant today, to an urban audience, out of the south.
I look forward to taking the journey with you; see you in the Theatre!
Everyman Theatre’s High School Summer Acting
Intensive
Everyman Theatre's High School Summer Acting Intensive is a fourweek course designed for actors of high school age seeking to build their
acting skills in a challenging and supportive environment. Classes follow
the conservatory model and guide students in a variety of activities designed to address individual needs and take them to the next level. The
program culminates in a student performance at Everyman Theatre.
For more information and registration form please visit:
http://eman.tht.re/hssai14
Nora Stillman Burke
Education Director
OR CALL EVERYMAN EDUCATION AT 443-615-7055 ext. 7142
Everyman Theatre gratefully
acknowledges the following donors for
generously supporting the Education and
Community Engagement Program:
The Dillon Fund
Edward St. John Foundation
The Goldsmith Family Foundation
Henry & Ruth B. Rosenberg Foundation
Jean & Sidney Silber Foundation
Lockhart Vaughan Foundation
Muller Charitable Foundation
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
T. Rowe Price Foundation