STAGE REVIEWS : Shrillness a Major Crime of the ‘Heart’

Fledgling A.P. Productions opened its first show Friday night with a shaky staging of “Crimes of the Heart,” Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about three sisters deep in the South and deep in emotional headaches.

This inaugural effort for A.P., a group that hopes to bring community theater to Laguna Niguel on a regular basis, was marked by flamboyant, mostly overeager acting and a directorial style that too often mixed stodgy pacing with punctuations of strident action.

Director Austin Peay and his cast may have been affected by opening-night and opening-season nerves; a more relaxed, responsive approach to Henley’s awkward, inherently edgy 1981 comedy would do much to make it more satisfying.

The trouble with letting the pitch get too high is that it tends to take “Crimes of the Heart” right over the top, beyond its naturally frayed eccentricity. As written, Henley’s quirky Magrath sisters--the spacey, old maid-ish Lenny, the well-traveled, spunky Meg and the ditzy Babe--can be as annoying as they are personable. The actresses have a big responsibility in keeping them likable.

Henley’s plot is uncomplicated enough. It’s Lenny’s birthday and she’s not especially happy about it. Adding to that anxiety is the fact that Babe just shot her senator husband, and Meg, weary of “too many men” and a singing career that isn’t exactly top floor, has made an appearance at the Magrath’s Mississippi homestead. There’s a lot of talk about old times, new times, old wounds, new wounds.

Robin Turner gave Lenny the necessary veneer of washed-out self-pity, but the portrayal lacked the spontaneity to make it seem natural. The same can be said for Daneen’s Meg; it was a colorful creation, but Daneen didn’t always seem comfortable with it during Friday’s performance.

Jill Haley Pane came the closest to a convincing turn as Babe, but even she was stymied by the play’s need for a subtly manic approach, not one bordering on extremism. As for Chick, the sisters’ cousin, Barbara Hollis was just too loudly mannered throughout.

The production was also hampered by the setting, the atrium at the Design Center South. Although Peay and stage manager Betsy Fernandez did a good job minimizing the restrictions imposed by this unusual mall courtyard environment, they couldn’t overcome the inhospitably muddy acoustics.

A.P. Productions is already looking past this first show. According to its press release, Peay, who founded the group, is considering staging “On Golden Pond,” “Amadeus” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” among others.

‘Crimes of the Heart’

An A.P. Productions staging of Beth Henley’s play. Directed by Austin Peay. With Robin Turner, Barbara Hollis, Thomas Lee Bolinger, Daneen, Jill Haley Pane and T. Scott Bryant. Production stage manager: Betsy Fernandez. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the atrium of the Design Center South, 23811 Aliso Creek Road, Laguna Niguel. Tickets: $10. (714) 495-2093.