Crimes of the Heart, a Review

My Lamb is something of a drama queen. She has focused her natural inclinations toward the theater. Her father and mother, being sympathetic to thespians in general, have allowed this and thus I have attended two plays a year since sixth grade. I think that's when she started getting roles.

I'm almost certain her first play was The Princess and the Pea, and watching her flopping around on the six foot bed frame (built by her father and possibly anchored in concrete to assure safety) may be the funniest intentional thing I've ever seen her do. I've seen lots of unintentional funny, but I won't embarrass her without good reason. I'm Mean Aunt Robynn, not Cruel Aunt Robynn.

Of her high school plays, this is the second least offensive I've seen, the first being Disney's Beauty and the Beast in her freshman year where she played Chip. A lot of "face" time but not a lot of "exposure." Hehe!

This was a play about attempted manslaughter, adultery and high-risk behavior set in Mississippi in 1974. I don't know how they pick these plays. Level of drama, I suppose.

The good messages of the play were devotion to family, perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds and the benefits of learning the saxophone. My Lamb doesn't play the sax, so I'm doubly thankful we had only to listen to a few notes of that.

This was a play where the audience was seated on stage. Elder Brother scouted the best spots and we were up front and personal as a cousin changed pantyhose right in front of us. I haven't worn hose in 11 years and this reminded me why that is.

I forgot I was on stage as the story unfolded. At one point, I blurted out the next line in shock and dismay (it dealt with the composition of a box of chocolates, and I am excessively attentive to those sorts of things). They ignored me and moved on.

These are some talented actors and actresses, and the story ended well, which took me by surprise. Most such stories do not. The biggest issue was getting Kansas city kids to sound like deep-south Mississippians. Perhaps unknown to most people, Kansans do not generally have a southern drawl. We're more prone to bad grammar than unintelligible accents.

I had a moment of panic when I thought My Lamb was going to kiss someone. She bounces about in pigtails for all she's 16 now, and I was poised to jump up and slap her and the offending youth. Fortunately, it was not necessary.

In short, one of the more enjoyable evenings of theater. It wasn't Cats, but I did tear up during the monologue about why the yellow cat was hanged and not just for the cat's sake.

Well done, My Lamb.