In Hazlehurst, Mississippi, the three Magrath sisters gather 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 30 and facing diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the middle sister, who quickly outgrew Hazlehurst, is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast, and Babe, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach. Their troubles, grave yet somehow hilarious, are highlighted by their priggish cousin, Chick, and by Babe’s awkward young lawyer, who has clearly fallen in love with her.
Honest, touching and consistently hilarious, Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play teems with humanity and humour.