WCT's 'Crimes' charged with emotion

It's one very bad day for the three Magrath sisters in Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize winning play "Crimes of the Heart."

And the many hues of emotions that arise from the set of circumstances could mean a very bad day at the theater without a cast able to handle the roller coaster ride.

Fortunately, Waukesha Civic Theatre has assembled a cast of six who inhabit their characters so completely you feel you are sitting right at the Magrath's kitchen table, trying to manage the bad hand life has dealt them.

First there's Lenny Magrath (Donna Daniels), whose 40th birthday goes practically unnoticed because her younger sister, Babe Botrelle (Jenny Kosek), has been charged with shooting her husband and the news is all over the smalltown Hazelhurst, Mississippi, newspaper. Lenny, a spinster who lives in the family home where the women's mother committed suicide and the dad was a ne'er-do-well, has always been upstaged by her sister Meg (Ruth Arnell), who left town to become a singing star in Hollywood. To make matters even worse, Meg has not had a job singing for ages and the girls grandfather is in the hospital. The sisters' smug know-it-all cousin Chick Boyle (Donna Lobacz) relishes the family's misfortunes and doesn't miss any opportunity to spew her venom about the family, who she considers trashy, as she brings a cheap birthday gift over for Lenny.

A busy kitchen

Also visiting the Magrath home on this day is Doc Porter (Joel Marinan). Later Meg returns home after hearing the news of Babe. Meg and Doc were an item in town when Hurricane Camille hit five years earlier, in 1969, and many of the townsfolk blame Meg for Doc's injury during the storm, which left him with a gimpy leg and ruined his promising medical career. Doc moved on to marry a "Yankee."

Babe also returns home that day after being released from jail and meets with her lawyer, Barnette Lloyd (Matt Lovison), who has decided to set up shop in his hometown after scoring high marks in law school.

Opening night was off and running with very crisp performances and staging. The tricky Southern accents were serviceable - just enough to set the play squarely in the Deep South - but the chemistry among the three Magrath sisters was amazing. Mark Neufang, making his directorial debut, has the sisters moving comfortably and fluidly throughout the old homestead, always keeping busy as women are wont to do.

Emotions on their sleeves

There are angry moments when Lenny learns that Babe has let Meg in on a secret of hers - and the anger is palpable. There is hilarity when Lenny and Babe return home in a punch-drunk mood after a night at the hospital visiting grandpa and Meg returns after an illicit night out with Doc. And there is the sense of family support as the two sisters convince Lenny to call an old flame, ending with Lenny and Meg doing a little dance - like two boxers in a ring - as they banter back and forth.

Arnell's Meg is a ball of fire. Loud and opinionated, with a quick fuse, she is nonetheless completely dedicated to her sisters.

Kosek's Babe, on the other hand, is ethereal, as if she is moving in a dream. Her mother's suicide seems to have affected her the most and she seems to have been stripped of her emotions. Her words are detached from any feeling as she relates how she made lemonade after she shot her husband.

Daniels plays Lenny with a no-nonsense air, yet reveals lots of vulnerability as she sees her youth slipping away.

As Chick, Lobacz is a delight to watch with her big hair and short dresses as she struts about the kitchen, eventually unveiling her mean-spirited side that leads to a hilarious chase around the kitchen as Lenny finally expels the family's nemesis from their lives.

Marinan and Lovison, as Porter and Lloyd, respectively, fill their roles capably, though it seemed as though Porter's bad leg was miraculously healed by the second act.

A marvelous set features a sunny kitchen with a view of the outdoors, and a living room, plus stairs to the upstairs and a hallway to the back door.

WCT's wears both the comedy and tragedy masks in "Crimes of the Heart" well making for a very good day, or evening, at the theater.

IF YOU GO

Who: Waukesha Civic Theatre

What: "Crimes of the Heart"

When: Through Feb. 21

Where: 264 W. Main St., Waukesha

Tickets: (262) 547-0708

Information: (262) 547-4911