In a year where many of our politicians feel it’s their patriarchal duty to abridge women’s rights, it’s encouraging to see plays on both sides of Tampa Bay that celebrate female empowerment. One running in St. Petersburg through Feb. 5 is a dark Southern comedy ultimately celebrating family. American Stage has mounted a sterling production of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Crimes of the Heart,” which is firmly rooted in the quirky Southern Gothic traditions of Carson McCullers and Flannery O’Conner.