Troupe takes on comedy/drama

Things are not going all that well for the three Magrath sisters as they gather in their grandparents' vintage, vine-covered Southern home in the town of Hazle- hurst, Miss.

It appears that Babe, the youngest of the trio, has a small problem: She shot her husband in the stomach.

Lenny, the oldest at 30, is unmarried and has dutifully assumed the tasks of caring for her grandparents and "keeping up proper appearances."

Meg, the rebellious middle sister, has just returned home after a failed singing career in Los Angeles, where she ended up working for a dog food company.

Even if you have seen this 1981 Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit or the subsequent film with Diane Keaton in the cast, you may want to catch Midtown/Sheri Grace Productions' season-opener, "Crimes of the Heart," by Mississippi native Beth Henley.

The comedy/drama opens Friday at the Charleston Acting Studio, a black-box theater space on Folly Road on James Island. It will be directed by Sheri Grace Wenger, who has wanted to stage this play for many years.

"I missed the New York production in 1981, but when I read the rave reviews and the script, I felt I had known all three sisters as well as their bossy cousin, Chick, who lives next door and is the quintessential, manipulative Southern belle," says the Charleston native.

Wenger adds that she thinks playwright Henley "has a genuine knowledge and fondness for Southern idiosyncrasies," but notes that the play has such universal appeal it has been performed all over the world.

Wenger has not cast Southerners in every role. Portraying Lenny is former New Yorker Samantha Andrews, who says she always has had a craving to be in "Crimes of the Heart."

After working as a professional actor and dancer in New York, Andrews relocated to Charleston in 1994 and since then has performed with Charleston Stage, the Footlight Players, the Village Playhouse and Company Company.

"My role of Lenny is unlike any character I have ever portrayed," says Andrews. "In a sense, I identify her with the character of Hannah in Tennessee Williams' 'Night of the Iguana,' but she is far more detached."

Andrews notes that the main reason the sisters have gathered is to await the impending death of "Old Granddaddy," who gave them a home after their father disappeared and their mother hanged herself along with the family cat.

"Although Old Granddaddy provided the only real stability for the girls, he also may have kept Lenny from mak-ing more ambitious choices in her life," says Andrews. "But don't pity her. She rises to the challenge at the end and conquers her demons, as you'll see."

Playing Babe is Emily Giant, an Indiana native and Miami of Ohio graduate who moved to Charleston last year to be near her brother, a member of the Crowfield Band.

"My main interest is children's theater," says Giant. "When I first moved here and met Sheri Grace, I asked if I could direct her children's program, and it's worked out great."

About Babe, Giant explains, "She is the baby of the family and genuinely a sweet soul who represses her true feelings about her husband, until they just burst out in bizarre ways. ... Finally, she had one of those days when she could not stand her abusive older husband, a senator, one more second, and so gets his gun and shoots him in the stomach. But that doesn't make her necessarily a bad person."

Mercifully, the senator is in the hospital and expected to survive. And Babe is out of jail on bail.

"Although I've never seen this play, I feel I'm ideal for the role of Babe, as she and I are both 24 and I sort of understand her point of view, even though I'm not Southern," says Giant.

Playing Chick, the mean-spirited cousin, is prolific actress Paulette Todd, who says, "Chick is a self-centered social climber who is jealous because she knows her cousins will inherit Old Granddaddy's house." She adds with a laugh, "I just hope I don't fall over when I have to put on my pantyhose while I'm on stage!"

Others in the cast are Krissy McKown as Meg; Thomas Michal as Babe's lawyer and Michael Ferrer as Meg's former boyfriend.

"Crimes of the Heart" will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, continuing Sept. 17-18, and 23-25, and at 3 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Charleston Acting Studio, 915 Folly Road, where parking is free.

To purchase, call 795-2223 or online at www.etix.com.

Reach Dottie Ashley at dottieashley@gmail.com.