Crimes of the Heart

Sitting in the intimate Laura Pels Theatre last night I felt as though I was watching an extremely well written and acted Lifetime movie of the week. I want to clarify by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the performances onstage, but by this morning I had mostly forgotten the whole experience. I guess I just didn’t see “the bigger picture” of what the play was trying to say. Though far more accessible than the current revival of Come Back, Little Sheba, for me it doesn’t have the emotional heft of the slightly dated and admittedly sometimes creaky, Sheba. The last act of Sheba was emotionally devastating. The last act of Crimes was entertaining but unfulfilling.

Although I don’t think plays necessarily have to always be “deep” and meaningful, there really doesn’t seem to be a reason to revive Crimes. It doesn’t say anything particularly new or interesting and it wasn’t presented in a way that separates it from any other production (aside from the fact that Kathleen Turner directed it). It’s nice enough, but if you’re looking for sheer entertainment value with perhaps a side order of emotional depth, I’d choose an episode of Ugly Betty or Pushing Daisies (or even Chuck) over Crimes.

Performances across the board were good to excellent. The standout for me was Jennifer Dundas (Lenny). Of the sisters, she was able to create the most richly nuanced performance; truthful and sympathetic. Sara Paulson (Meg) was solid but not outstanding. She sometimes played a bit broad and general (the scene where she eats Lenny’s chocolates was so pushed that I could almost hear her silently screaming, “Notice what I’m doing, this will be important later!!!”). At first I thought her extremely slow speech cadence was so that the audience could get used to her thick accent. But she continued to speak this way through the play, almost coming off as slightly stupid. I know things are slower in the south, but my parents live in Richmond and I’ve never heard anyone speak like that all the time. I was looking forward to seeing Lily Rabe (Babe), but due to a broken rib, she was out. Her excellent understudy, Jessica Cummings in her New York debut (according to the Playbill she just graduated from Northwestern and listed no other credits - first job in NYC - bitch!), had the perfect combination of naivete, vulnerability and just a touch of insanity. It really was hard to believe she was just the understudy. The men were also uniformly excellent with Chandler Williams (Barnette) a standout as the smart, but slightly off-kilter, lawyer. Worth the price of a TDF ticket or rush ticket. Otherwise, rent the movie.