1999

An interview with the leading players in Fort Wayne Civic Theatre's "Crimes of the Heart"

1) Do you have sisters? What is your relationship with your sisters or your girlfriends?

SARAH FORBING (Babe): One sister, six years younger. We don't see each other a lot, but I feel very close to her. Protective. The older we become the better friends we start to become. [The love I feel for my family is] strong, unconditional. I can never stay mad at any of them.

MARY MEYER (Meg): I have one sister and many girlfriends. My sister and I are closer as adults than ever before. I feel very proud and protective of her. My girlfriends and I laugh, cry, console each other. We would do anything for each other.

ELAINE WITOM (Lenny): I have two stepsisters, but we're not really close. One of my stepsisters and I used to be close, but we seem to have drifted apart over the last year or so. It makes me sad. My best friend I have known for about twenty years. She's a professional dancer/choreographer. We don't get to see each other much since I moved to Fort Wayne five months ago from Chicago. I have a lot of close girlfriends. I'm getting married in September and I have six bridesmaids!

2) What is the value of family in your life?

EW: Family is important to me. Unfortunately I come from a divorced family and many of my aunts and uncles have divorced as well. It's scary. I guess that's why I waited so long to get engaged.

3) Have you bonded with your fellow actresses yet? What are they like to work with?

SF: We all like to laugh! That's important, because there are quite a few scenes [in which] we bond through laughter. Of them, she says, They're wonderful guys as well as actors. It's a little strange to have a play with more females than males.

MM: I have bonded with my fellow actresses. They are so much fun and very welcoming. They are wonderful to work with. They are very giving and laid back, as well as serious about their craft.

EW: The girls in the show are so much fun and SO talented. There are no 'egos' in the show. It's so great! We have had a lot of fun getting to know each other so far in this show.

4) Describe your character.

SF: Everything is very matter-of-fact with Babe, even when it comes to shooting her own husband. She doesn't comprehend life, and when she starts to, she covers it up with a fantasy world. I believe she has an innocence that makes her seem normal.

MM: My character Meg is a wild out-of-work singer. I am playing her as a wild and fun, caring, and, at times, cruel sister.

EW: My character Lenny is kind of 'pathetic.' She whines a lot and cries a lot and repeats herself a lot. She is, I think, an interesting character. She starts out kind of pathetic, but changes throughout the course of the play. She becomes more courageous and self-confident by the end.

5) What does she want in this play?

SF: Babe wants to live in this fantasy she has created, and when she is forced to face the reality of her actions, she wants to be left alone. But as much as she wants to be left alone, she wants help and reassurance that she is not like her mother. I believe this is what terrifies her, to be like her mother.

EW: [Lenny] wants to be paid attention to. She wants a boyfriend (Charlie). She probably wants old Granddaddy to die so she can go on with her life. She wants to be close to her sisters. She wants to be more confident in herself.

6) Does she get that in the end?

EW: Yes! That's why Lenny's character is so great. She's like a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly.

SF: No. I think Babe is more terrified than ever of becoming her mother, and possibly being sent to an asylum.

MM: [Meg] wants to "clean up this mess with Babe." Yes, she does get that in the end.

7) What is her relationship with each of her sisters?

SF: Lenny is more of a mother figure to babe and when Lenny is hurt, so is Babe. Meg and Babe have more of a friendship-sister relationship, and Babe would share more with Meg than with Lenny. Babe can't tell Lenny everything, just as most people can't tell their mothers everything -- so as not to hurt them. Babe realizes the tension Lenny has for Meg and tries to cover it up. She'll defend both of them, so they won't look bad in each other's eyes....But she likes to gossip about them, too.

MM: [Meg] is closest with Babe. She is protective of her and feels responsible for her. She loves and resents Lenny. Lenny always had it easy, she got good grades and seemed to escape being hurt.

EW: [Lenny] is jealous of Meg. She worries about Babe. She loves them both, though.

8) What drives her crazy about each of them?

SF: Babe hates it when Lenny tears Meg down and when they fight. She also hates when Meg makes Lenny cry.

MM: It drives [Meg] crazy when Lenny gets too scared to try anything -- to take a chance. She acts helpless. Babe's tangents drive her crazy sometimes.

EW: Meg always seems to get what she wants and gets away with it. This pisses Lenny off. Babe always tries to defend everyone. They both forgot her birthday.

9) What does she love most about each of them?

MM: Meg loves Lenny's undying devotion and love for her family. [Lenny] believes in birthday wishes and feels everything. Meg, on the other hand, has trained herself not to feel much at all. She loves Babe's innocence and wonder. She always sees the good in everything.

EW: Lenny loves both her sisters and how they try to bring her confidence up.

10) What do you want audiences to come away with?

SF: Familiarity. Hopefully they can see themselves or their family and remember some of the same experiences. Most importantly, maybe learn something about themselves and how important family is. Maybe they'll go home and call their sister!

MM: I want the audience to leave the play feeling moved by the relationship that these three sisters share. I want them to giggle at the silliness of it and cry at the warmth in it.

EW: I want the audiences to laugh, to cry, and to see the transformation each of the three sisters go through in this play.