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DIRECTOR: 

Kathy Straton

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AUDITIONS

Monday, Jan 13 7, 7pm

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CALLBACKS/MAKEUPS

Tuesday, Jan 14, 7pm

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PERFORMANCES:

Mar 21 - Apr 6

SYNOPSIS

 

​Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play.

The scene is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, where the three Magrath sisters have gathered to await news of the family patriarch, their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital. Lenny, the oldest sister, is unmarried at thirty and facing diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast; while Babe, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach. Their troubles, grave and yet, somehow, hilarious, are highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick, and by the awkward young lawyer who tries to keep Babe out of jail while helpless not to fall in love with her. In the end the play is the story of how its young characters escape the past to seize the future—but the telling is so true and touching and consistently hilarious that it will linger in the mind long after the curtain has descended.

 

​CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

(2 males, 4 females)


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  • Lenny MaGrath, age 30, is the oldest MaGrath sister. The play is set on and around her thirtieth birthday. Lenny is a thoughtful, self-conscious woman who remains concerned about her critically ill grandfather and her own impending spinsterhood. 

  • Meg MaGrath, age 27, is the middle MaGrath sister. Meg moved to Hollywood to pursue her singing career, abandoning her lover, Doc Porter, who was injured in a hurricane accident. She has a failed singing career and has struggled with mental illness. She returns to be close to her sisters after Babe’s shooting of her husband. 

  • Becky (Babe) Botrelle is 24, the youngest MaGrath sister. She is the reason for most of the play’s dynamics. She shot her husband, Zackery Botrelle, initially saying she didn’t like his looks. Babe is the most fragile of the sisters and thus most like their mother, who scandalously hanged herself and her cat years before the action of the play. 

  • Chick Boyle, 29, is a first cousin of the MaGrath sisters. She is confrontational and brassy.  She is ashamed of Babe’s alleged crime and voices her shame frequently and indiscriminately. Chick finally goes too far when she berates Babe as a murderer and refers to all the MaGrath sisters as “trash.” 

  • Doc Porter, age 30, is the former boyfriend of Meg. Doc comes over to inform Lenny that her twenty-year-old horse, Billy Boy, had died from being struck by lightning. Doc remains infatuated with Meg, even after his marriage to another woman and the birth of his two children. 

  • Barnette Lloyd,26, is Babe’s lawyer. He returns to Hazlehurst from law school to open his own firm. Meg remains dubious of Barnette’s competence, partially due to his young age, when she first meets him, but Barnette has a personal vendetta against Babe’s husband. He is fond of Babe and hopes to save her from her abusive husband and from any criminal charges.

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Director’s note on casting: These ages are from the script, however the director may cast older actors for any of these roles. An actor’s chronological age is not as important as the ability to convey the essence of the character.  

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