Steel Magnolias

 

 

Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling is a comedy-drama about the bond between a group of Southern women set in Louisiana in the 1980s.  The action centres on Truvy's beauty parlour and the women who regularly gather there. The story begins on the morning of Shelby's wedding to Jackson and covers events over the next three years, including Shelby's decision to have a child despite having diabetes and the complications that subsequently result from that decision. The characters woven by the playwright illustrate, as the title suggests, both the hard and soft side of females and reflects his experience with the death of his sister.  The script is a testament to the ladies’ inner strength.

The highly organised and efficient front of house team welcomed all the audience and helped to create the atmosphere ready for the production.

The open set with its 1980’s set dressing inspired conversations amongst the audience. The salon was created very realistically and with great attention to detail.  All the set dressing evoked memories and was appropriate.  The props were excellent and well used by the cast who appeared to carry out their hairdressing tasks without a pause in the script. Both the make-up and hair were suitable for the production.  It would be difficult to recreate the hairstyles of the day.  Easy on film!  The costumes for all four scenes were well thought out and worn in character.  The variety of both colour and style enhanced each and every character.

The lighting was effective throughout and well controlled.  The sound effects were very precise and very well executed.

The outstanding talent of the six actresses resounded throughout this excellent production.  The expertise of the hairdressers whilst simultaneously delivering lines is to be highly commended and all the cast exhibited a great talent for ‘timing’ enabling the humour to come through together with the words of sadness and anguish.

The character of Annelle who goes through a transformation during the play from shy newcomer to good time girl and then to a revival-tent Christian was played by Anna Twaits who well-supported Polly King as Truvy, the beauty parlour owner, who was the lynch pin throughout.  The two regular customers, the very neat and natty Clairee, played warmly by Jackie Morris and Ouiser played by Ros Robins in her signature smocks & hat who very cleverly changed the tone and speed of the acts when she appeared.  The relationship between Shelby and her mother M’Lynn were played with a high degree of emotion by Collette Lucas and Emma Culley – indeed the tissues were really needed both for joy and sadness.  These six ladies each played their part superbly and with great feeling to create an excellent whole. The production was a great credit to director, Steve Graham and illustrated his experience and talent; he drew every emotion out of the play - throughout there is an emphasis on the friendship that can surround a group of women and this production truly illustrated all the highs and lows of the relationships.

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