Strawmoddie go American gothic
Beth Henley’s play about fierce, complicated love is upstairs at the Roxy
This week sees the ever impressive Strawmoddie Theatre take on another piece of award-winning theatre. This time it is to the States that they turn, and Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Crimes of the Heart, playing the Assembly Roxy from Thursday to Sunday.
A dark tragicomedy, Crimes of the Heart is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, in the 1970s. It tells of the three Magrath sisters, Meg, Babe, and Lenny, daughters of a dysfunctional family, reunited at their Old Granddaddy’s home, waiting to hear news from the hospital where his life is coming to an end.
The set for Crimes of the Heart. Pic: Strawmoddie
Direction is by Alex Card, who will be known to Strawmoddie regulars as Captain Carrot of the Ankh Morpork Guard – and director of the company’s previous production: Terry Pratchett’s The Fifth Elephant.
There is nothing other-wordly or facetious about Crimes of the Heart, however. Hazlehurst was where Henley was brought up, and the play, or at least its setting, is very much grounded in her own life.
This sense of place is at the forefront of Card’s mind in his staging of the play, hoping that his audience will feel as if they have properly visited the worn old home in which it is set; settled into a creaking chair or leaned against the chipped kitchen counter.
the play’s fourth sister,
“The Magrath home is, in many ways, the play’s fourth sister,” Card says. “Though the characters inhabit it through tragic circumstance, it has never truly been their home, only Old Granddaddy’s. That tension between belonging and displacement sits at the heart of the story.”
There are pieces of set, furniture and knick-knacks from all the cast and company’s families. The radio on that chipped kitchen counter belonged to the grandparents of company founder Jonathan Whiteside. He says his mum remembers losing a kitten and finding it had wormed its way unto the back of the radio to sleep on the heat of the vacuum tubes.
Alex Card on the set. Pic: Strawmoddie.
Card continues: “We approached the set as a living character with its own history, quirks, and scars, a constant reminder of the joys and heartbreaks that have seeped into its walls. To honour that, we sourced as many items as possible from our own families, blending inherited textures with period-accurate pieces to create a space that feels both deeply personal and unmistakably rooted in its time.”
This is as much a play about character as it is about place. Babe might be most obviously in trouble, but all three sisters have their troubles to bare.
Lenny, the oldest played by Alice Pelan, is unmarried at 30 and facing diminishing marital prospects. Norliza Matheson as middle sister Meg quickly outgrew Hazlehurst but is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast. Amélie Berry’s Babe is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach.
complex figures
“The realism of the performances was equally essential,” adds Card. “I wanted each character to feel fully realised: rich with memories, contradictions, regrets, and desires, much like the complex figures you might encounter in Chekhov or Ibsen.
“Throughout rehearsals, we explored not only their personal histories but also their relationships to their environment and the socio-political world beyond Hazlehurst. Every quirk, every habit, every emotional reflex was traced back to its origin so that the actors could inhabit their roles with clarity, depth, and truth.
Some of the wardrobe for Crimes of the Heart. Pic: Strawmoddie.
“Costume became another lens through which we examined the sisters’ fractured unity. At the start, their contrasting colours and styles reflect a family splintered by time and circumstance. As the play unfolds, subtle shifts in palette and silhouette allow a sense of cohesion to emerge, an outward sign of the internal reconnection taking place between the Magrath sisters.”
The troubles of the sisters, although grave, are still yet somehow hilarious. This is highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick (Grace Gilbert), and by Babe’s awkward young lawyer, Barnette (Gregor Dickie), who has clearly fallen in love with her.
fierce, complicated love
“Above all, this production is an exploration of the fierce, complicated love that binds families together,” says Card. “The Magraths may clash, accuse, and wound one another, but when an outside force threatens one of their own, they close ranks with astonishing ferocity.
“In rehearsal, we experimented with these shifting alliances, how blame moves, how loyalties form, and how quickly the dynamic transforms when an external presence enters the room. What emerged was a portrait of a sisterhood that will fight tooth and nail for one another, even when they can barely stand each other.”
Strawmoddie’s Crimes of the Heart, is playing the upstairs theatre at Assembly Roxy from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 March 2026, evenings at 7.30 from Thursday to Saturday, with a matinee performance on Sunday at 2.30pm.
Listing
Crimes of the Heart
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU.
Thurs 19 – Sun 22 Mar 2026
Thurs – Sat: 7.30pm; Sun: 2.30pm.(Upstairs).
Tickets and details: Book here.
The cast and company of Crimes of the Heart. Standing: Beatrice Nicole (lights), Alex Card (director), Nicholas Thorne (Doc Porter), Grace Gilbert (Chick Boyle), Gregor Dickie (Barnette Lloyd), Miles Stebbens (stage team) and Dug Campbell (composer). Seated: Norliza Matheson (Meg Magrath), Amélie Berry (Babe Botrelle) and Alice Pelan (Lenny Magrath). Pic: Andrew Morris.
ENDS
