CCPA auditions Aug. 9, 11 for next play

Nevada Daily Mail

The Community Center for the Performing Arts is having auditions for "Crimes of the Heart," with director Kim Bessey, Sunday, Aug. 9, at 4 p.m., and Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 6:30 p.m., at the Fox Playhouse, 110 S. Main, Nevada. No previous theater experience is necessary.

The performances are Oct. 2-4 and 9-11.

Set in a small town in Mississippi, the Pulitzer prize-winning "Crimes of the Heart" explores the relationship of three sisters as they come to terms with life-changing events.

Lenny, a 30-year-old "old maid" faces the loss of her only companion, her grandfather. Twenty-seven-year-old Meg, the Hollywood hopeful, is recovering from a nervous breakdown. Childlike Babe, the youngest, has shot her husband in a fit of despair. All three now come together as they try to get Babe off the hook with the help of an absurdly sincere young lawyer.

Although the subject matter is dark, the actual play is not, noted a press release from the CCPA announcing the auditions.

"The playwright tells her tale with a delicate and humorous touch and the result is a rather quirky, heart-warming gem."

There are six characters.

Lenny McGrath (20-30; female; large part). Lenny carries the world on her shoulders. She is long-suffering, has little self-belief and tends to get rather flustered. However, she has always managed to be an anchor to her sisters, and holds her head up high in her hometown.

Meg McGrath (20-30; female; large part). Meg is something of a rebel. She is the one who, as a little girl, discovered their mother after she'd hung herself along with her beloved cat. This is something that Meg has never really got over, but it's also the reason why she's gotten away with things her sisters haven't.

Babe McGrath (late teens-20s; female; large part). Babe is very childlike and a dreamer. One gets the sense that she doesn't quite live in the real world. She is, however, a startlingly honest person and doesn't lack in sympathy for the suffering of others.

Chick Boyle (30-50; female; medium part). Chick is the sisters' first cousin and Lenny's next-door neighbor. She has resented her cousins ever since they came to live with the grandparents and got special attention from them. A self-righteous and self-important bigot, Chick is a wonderful comic foil to the sisters.

Barnette Lloyd (20-30; male; medium part). Barnette is a very serious and sincere young lawyer. He genuinely cares for the sisters, particularly Babe, and is prepared to help them to the point of sacrificing a personal vendetta.

Doc Porter (20-40; male; small part). An old flame of Meg, Doc is a mellow, everyday guy, who is just a touch smooth. Having grown up in the sisters' circle and always wanting to have become a doctor, he now leads a disappointingly ordinary family life as a house painter up north.