Bacon, Camp & More Lead McCarter Theatre's CRIMES OF THE HEART

McCarter Theatre has announced the complete casting for its new production of Beth Henley's modern American classic Crimes of the Heart. Directed by Liesl Tommy, the cast will feature Mary Bacon (Lenny MaGrath), Molly Camp (Babe Botrelle), Georgia Cohen (Meg MaGrath), Dustin Ingram (Barnette Lloyd), Lucas Van Engen (Doc Porter) and Brenda Withers (Chick Boyle). The production is sponsored by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Crimes of the Heart will begin performances on Tuesday, March 8 and run through Sunday, March 27 (press opening: Friday, March 11).

About this new production, Emily Mann, McCarter Theatre's Artistic Director, said "I'm delighted to be revisiting Beth Henley's timeless masterpiece with director Liesl Tommy. One of the rising stars of the American theater, Liesl leapt onto the scene with a series of triumphant productions of new plays, including a stunning production of Danai Gurira's Eclipsed in McCarter's 2009 Lab Festival. Now, she brings her masterful sense of comedy, nuanced textual rigor, and extraordinary humanity to one of my favorite plays."

Three eccentric sisters, a husband who's been shot, and a lawyer with a vendetta: the recipe for a 30th birthday gone perfectly wrong. Family cruelty has never been more casually dealt than in Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Southern Gothic screwball comedy. Touching, tragic, and daffy, Crimes of the Heart is a darkly comic family feud of epic proportions. The design team includes set design by Andromache Chalfant, costumes by Marion Williams, lighting by Ann G. Wrightson and sound by Karin Graybash.

Mary Bacon has appeared on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's Rock N' Roll and Arcadia. Her other New York credits include Happy Now? at Primary Stages, and Becky Shaw at Second Stage. She has also been seen in Children at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Bald Soprano at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Twelfth Night at Dallas Theatre Center, Don Juan at Seattle Rep and McCarter Theatre, as well as The Triumph of Love at Seattle Rep and Long Wharf. TV/Film: MildrEd Pierce, The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, Alexander Hamilton, Law & Order: CI, Johnny Zero, Law & Order.
Molly Camp has extensive regional theatre credits with leading roles at Berkeley Rep, Vineyard Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, the O'Neill Center, Sundance, and The Actors Theatre of Louisville. She has appeared on such TV shows as Law & Order: SVU, Gossip Girl, and All My Children.

Georgia Cohen has toured nationally with The Acting Company and Guthrie Theater in Henry V, directed by Davis McCallum. Georgia is featured as herself in the new documentary about The Acting Company, Still On the Road, directed by Sara Wolkowitz. She holds BA in Theatre Studies from Brown University and is a graduate oF Brown/Trinity Rep's MFA Acting Program.

Dustin Ingram began his stage career at age six. On TV, he has been seen in Glee, Everybody Hates Chris, Brothers, Zeke and Luther, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and three seasons on Nickelodeon's Unfabulous. Film credits include Sky High with Kurt Russell & Kelly Preston, and his upcoming feature film Meet Monica Velour in which he stars alongside Kim Cattrall and Brian Dennehy.

Lucas Van Engen has been in several shows in New York including Relativity, which he also produced. Regional: Take Me Out at the Human Race Theatre Co. of Dayton, Ohio and Carl in Lonely Planet at The Actors Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2010, Lucas was in the news for riding 3,300 miles across America on a Craftsman garden tractor. The 99-day journey took him from Santa Monica to New York.

Brenda Withers is very happy to be back at McCarter where she appeared as Helena in Tina Lindau's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other recent credits include Pride and Prejudice at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Twelfth Night at Arizona Theatre Company, Know Dog at Luna Stage, and Matt and Ben at PS122. She is a company member at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater and a founding member of Hands and Feet Collective. She studied theater and religion at Dartmouth College.

Liesl Tommy's recent directing credits include Lynn Nottage's Ruined by for Oregon Shakespeare Festival; the world premiere of Danai Gurira's Eclipsed at Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and McCarter Theatre; the world premiere of Eisa Davis' A History of Light at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival; the world premiere of Tracey Scott Wilson's The Good Negro at The Public Theater, Sundance Theatre Institute, and Dallas Theater Center. Ms. Tommy was awarded the NEA/TCG Directors Grant, the New York Theatre Workshop Casting/Directing Fellowship and is a member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Lincoln Center Director's Lab and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Liesl has taught directing at Trinity Rep/Brown University's MFA Directing Program and acting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She is a native of Cape Town, South Africa.

Beth Henley was born in Jackson, Mississippi. Her plays have been produced internationally and translated into over ten languages. Her play Ridiculous Fraud was produced at McCarter Theatre as well as South Coast Repertory Theatre. Ms. Henley was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play for Crimes of the Heart. Ms. Henley wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film version of Crimes of the Heart for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford and starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.mccarter.org, by phone at (609) 258-2787, or by visiting the ticket office at 91 University Place in Princeton. Performances begin March 8 and continue through March 27. Ticket prices range from $20 to $65. Student tickets are $15 with valid ID. Groups of 10 or more save and receive premium seating. For more information, call (609) 258-6526 or e-mail groups@mccarter.org.

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