Steel Magnolias

Whenever I am fortunate to see a production of Steel Magnolias, I always make the saame opening declaration. It is one of my favourite titles, which I have decided to upgrade after this most recent outing to, my favourite title. The writing is simply sublime, and the beautifully drawn characters mean that this piece of genius is right up there with Calendar Girls and Stepping Out. The aforementioned outing was at the wonderful Barn Theatre in Swaffham and courtesy of the Swaffham Players.
It is the perfect venue for a play and I was delighted to see that the auditorium was satisfactorily full. The action takes place in a beauty parlour in Louisiana sometime in the 80’s and introduces us to Truvy the owner, Annelle her new assistant and the very rich, very pleasant southern ladies that are the backbone of her clientele. Clairee, M’Lynn, Ouiser and M’Lynn’s daughter, Shelby. The set (John Dawkins, Bridget Dumbrell, Marcie Loan and Roy Ivory) was everything I had expected and the unspectacular lighting did all that it needed to do. Costumes were fine and are not an important feature in this piece. The hair and make-up caused no concerns and Truvy’s Dolly Partonesque wig stayed in place throughout.
Bizarrely, the reason this piece gets so many outings is that it is that rare piece of drama where there are 5 parts for women over 50 and, as in this case, I am often not sure that the groups that take it on realise how very good it is. The dialogue is shared pretty much evenly amongst the cast with gags zinging backwards and forwards and everyone has a line and a half every 10 lines which makes it a  very difficult script to learn. Taking slightly less than her fair share of the dialogue was Haley Hoare as newly hired Annelle and Miss Hoare delivered a nice characterisation in the part. Amongst some very strong performers she did look a little inexperienced at times, but managed to hold her own throughout. Similarly, Marilyn Pruden made a good showing of grumpy old millionaires, Ouiser, also looking a little green in places and taking a couple of prompts, but when she was on the script, she did not hamper the others. I wondered if this was her first production and if so, cracking job!.
I am not sure if I have seen Karen Nye before but she was all that she needed to be as Salon owner, Truvy, also taking a couple of nudges but providing the centrepiece to all the story telling and wonderful acting taking place around her. Director Marci Loan took the other junior part as bride- to-be, mother-to-be and dearly departed Shelby. Miss Loan is always a solid performer and waded through the mountains of dialogue like a seasoned pro. I was a little concerned she might have overplayed the part of diabetic Shelby, it calls for a delicate touch and by toning herself down a good few notches the characterisation was everything I had hoped for.
I have seen Maureen Silver a few times and she is always quality. On this night however she was perfection! Confident with her lines and with the comic timing of Bob Hope and a soft but determined delivery that was perfect for widowed Mayor’s wife, Clairee. When she spoke, her carefully considered southern accent was absolutely hypnotic and one of the best Clairee’s I have seen.
Penultimate  paragraph honours could easily have gone to Maureen Silver or indeed to the play itself until brilliant, utterly brilliant, Sue Baxter delivered the final M’Lynn monologue after Shelby’s death. I blubbed like a child and I would wager a tenner, that the same can be said of every other person in that theatre, be they man, woman or child. She had been spellbinding since her opening line but that delivery was the best I have ever seen that outburst done, and the memory of it will stay with me for many months. In her performance generally, her work when the focus was with another performer was impressive and she continued to act and interact with every part of her face and body. I think last time I saw Mrs Baxter she stole the production of Imaginary Lines and I seem to remember suspecting she may have done this for a living at some time. Either way it was the take home performance of the night, and what a night it was.
Profound congratulations to Director, Marcie Loan for the best Swaffham Players production I have ever seen. I can confess now that it would have broken my heart to see this incredible play messed up and I was nervous as I took my seat, but as I drove home (still snivelling) I felt exhilarated by the power of this story, inspired by the empowerment of these older women and  inspired by their friendship and trust. An amazing night !
 
 

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