APA Theatre presents Suddenly, Last Summer and Crimes of the Heart

The award winning Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts Theatre Department is producing two plays- Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly, Last Summer and Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart. These two plays feature the members of APA’s Actor’s Repertory. 

Suddenly, Last Summer will be presented on February 5 and 6 at 7:00 pm. Tennessee Williams is considered one of America's greatest dramatists. Williams had long lasting influence on the playwrights who followed and he continues to be one of the most produced playwrights in the world. Suddenly, Last Summer is one of his most poetic plays and performed without an intermission, is one of his shortest. It was originally produced in 1958 and was made into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn who both received Academy Award nominations for their performances.

Suddenly, Last Summer is set in 1937 in the Garden District of New Orleans at the home of Violet Venable . Once the only constant companion of her son Sebastian, Mrs. Venable is distraught by his mysterious death abroad. Sebastian had spurned his mother’s companionship on his last trip, choosing instead to travel with his beautiful cousin Catharine. Since returning to New Orleans, Catharine’s rants about the trip have begun to tarnish Sebastian’s pristine reputation. In part jealous of her dismissal by her son for a younger woman, Violet is ruthlessly determined to protect his memory at any cost. She entreats the aid of Dr. Cukrowicz, a young surgeon specializing in the new field of lobotomy, promising generous funding for his research provided he perform one on Catharine. What really happened last summer will shock audiences as much as it does the participants in the story. 

Crimes of the Heart will be presented February 19 and 20 at 7:00 pm. Beth Henly’s dramedy of three sisters in Hazelhurst, Mississippi in the 1970’s is a modern classic which was the winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize. Ever have a bad day, a really bad day? The Magrath sisters sure have. The small town has never forgotten that their mother hung herself and their cat. Old Granddaddy had a stroke. Lenny is 30 with no romantic prospects due to her shrunken ovary and her horse was struck dead by lightening; Meg went to Hollywood for a show business career that failed and left her in the loony bin and youngest sister Babe has shot her husband because she didn’t like his looks. 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.

Both plays will be presented in the Black Box Theatre at Huntington Beach High School at 1905 Main Street; Huntington Beach, CA 92648. For further information call (714) 536-2514 Ext. 4025. Tickets are $12.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.