Guthrie Theater

The lights are up, the applause has died down, and the most awkward moment in every live theater production begins. Before you take the requisite stroll to the end of the balcony and peek out at the Mississippi, or squeeze onto the longest escalator in Minnesota, or pass the fancy restaurant and labyrinthine passageways of the Guthrie’s uniform architectural performance — there is that awkward, unavoidable transition from theater to life. One moment you’re part of a four hundred-year-old play about horny teenagers. The next you’re watching your neighbors, shuffling your feet, and wondering about where you parked and what you...

Crimes of the Heart is a tragic-comic Southern Gothic piece by playwright Beth Henley, and will be at the Guthrie on the Wurtele Thrust Stage until June 15. The play is a Pulitzer Prize recipient and is also well-known from the 1986 film adaptation. It is set in the small town of Hazelhurst, Mississippi, in the late 1970s and follows the reunion of the McGrath sisters, Lenny, Meg, and Babe, in the wake of a crisis. The set is an open-faced 1970s single family home. The audience can see the front door, the kitchen, the living room, and the staircase...