Steel Magnolias

The all-ladies cast delivered a wonderful evening’s entertainment. The setting of Truvy’s Beauty Salon in Louisiana provided the venue for the women to talk and support one another. Humour and self-deprecation came thick and fast. The steel in these flowers of Louisiana became apparent in their feisty attitude to life. Truvy, played seamlessly by Elspeth Whyte with her long suffering comments on her idle husband and sons, has a heart of gold taking on a new employee, Annelle. Susanne Small presented this girl as reticent to talk about a damaged past then as one who finds healing and faith, praying for all at convenient moments. She even became matchmaker for the aggressive Ouiser, whose demeanour and expression of one fighting the world was so well portrayed by Gill Sullivan. She made this character believable without turning it into a caricature. A good contrast to her was the character Niccy Angus gave us in Miss Clairee a past mayor and rich business woman who supported and defused situations with ease. Lynne Hurst played the difficult role of diabetic Shelby with real understanding, showing her spunk and spirit in having a child in spite of the consequences to her health. Judith Hutchinson as her mother M’Lynn gradually revealed her anxieties for her daughter. She handled her grief with dignity until she could endure no more and burst into a diatribe that shocked and moved everyone. Her skill in containing this pivotal moment in the play was a credit to her as was Miss Clairee’s timing in defusing of the situation by pushing forward Oiuser to be used as a physical punch ball. The ladies are to be congratulated on the way they kept control of the dialogue so that humour and pathos were delivered without mawkish sentiment. Their accents of the Deep South were maintained throughout. The setting of the hairdressing salon was authentic in its furniture and décor and created the right ambience for events. This was a well-produced show which made its audience laugh and cry. Well Done.

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