(SPRING LAKE, NJ) -- South Street Players presents Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley across two weekends (February 14-16 and February 21-23, 2025) in Wesley Hall. The play was the winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Award for Best American Play.

The scene is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, where the three Magrath sisters have gathered to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital. Lenny, the oldest sister, is unmarried at thirty and facing diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast; while Babe, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach.

Their troubles, grave and yet, somehow, hilarious, are highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick, and by the awkward young lawyer who tries to keep Babe out of jail while helpless not to fall in love with her. In the end the play is the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the future ‐ but the telling is so true and touching and consistently hilarious that it will linger in the mind long after the curtain has descended.

The production is directed by Annette Curran and features Kim Mackanic (Lenny Magrath), Rebecca Worthington (Meg Magrath), Taylor Rose Frisco (Babe Magrath), Hannah Drew (Chick Boyle), Brendan Keffner (Barnette Lloyd), and David Telfeyan (Doc Porter).

Performances take place Friday, February 14 at 8:00pm; Saturday, February 15 at 8:00pm; Sunday, February 16 at 2:00pm; Friday, February 21 at 8:00pm; Saturday, February 22 at 8:00pm; and Sunday, February 16 at 2:00pm. Tickets are $22 for adults; $20 for Seniors and Youth under 12. Tickets are available for purchase online. Wesley Hall is located at the corner of 4th and Mercer Avenue Sts. in Spring Lake, New Jersey.

Coming up next at South Street Players is the 14th Annual Tri-State Theatre Festival (March 7-9) and Naomi in the Living Room and Other Short Plays by Christopher Durange (May 2-4, May 9-11).