Content area
Full text
Most actresses greet each new birthday with trepidation. Jennifer Dundas doesn't suffer from such a condition. Thanks to her delicate features, diminutive stature and wide-eyed gaze, the 37-year-old has always been cast in parts years younger than her actual age. So when she was offered thirtysomething Lenny in "Crimes of the Heart," playing now at the Laura Pels Theatre, she was elated.
"I was kind of shocked. It came out of nowhere," says Dundas. "At least in New York, I haven't felt that I've been able to come into an adult role."
But in Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Dundas has found a salve for her growing pains. Set in 1974, the play follows the Macgrath sisters, Lenny (Dundas), Meg (Sarah Paulson) and Babe (Lily Rabe) as they gather at their grandfather's Southern estate to deal with a family crisis - Babe has just taken a shotgun to her abusive husband. As Lenny, Dundas...