Steel Magnolias

I knew very little about the storyline of Steel Magnolias, apart from knowing that it was a film starring Dolly Parton, which had reduced my wife to tears when she watched it.

We had arrived early at the venue, so I was enjoying a glass of wine whilst reading the programme. Inside there was an article by the playwright Robert Harling and I was surprised to learn that Steel Magnolias was effectively a true story, created to celebrate the memory of his sister Susan who had tried to live life to full, despite  having being diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 12.  I found the article very moving and I realised immediately that the play could be something very special.

Set in a beauty salon in a Southern town in the USA, Steel Magnolias is a story about six local ladies who meet up when they have the various treatments available, they also discuss all the local gossip and over time they have become a close knit group supporting each other in their times of need.

Whilst I did struggle initially to follow the excellent Deep South accents, I thought that this production was excellent, and it had me enthralled throughout. The excellent set looked super and it was clear that great attention to detail had been paid to the large amount of props that were required to create the look of a busy beauty salon.

The six ladies of the cast made an excellent team that worked well together and I thought that there were three outstanding performances to create the main characters of story, Truvy, M’Lynn and Shelby, very well supported by other cast members, who had the difficult task of keeping in character when at times they were effectively just sitting dressing the stage, only having the odd line to deliver, well done.  I particularly found it fascinating to observe Truvy and Annelle when they were doing all the hairdressing. I am sure the director and the cast must have spent many hours planning and rehearsing it to make sure it looked right.

The play was a roller coaster of emotion throughout, there was lots of laughter from the audience and I am sure there was more than just a few tears. I thought that the final scene was superb.  

An excellent production that everyone concerned should be very proud of.

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