Steel Magnolias

You could be forgiven for thinking a play set in a beauty parlour with a lot of words but little action, might induce an occasional yawn from the audience! Not so! Based on real events in the author’s life, this Robert Harling play revolves around the lives of six Southern women sharing their ups and downs over a period of time. The predominant rolling theme concerns mother and daughter, M’lynn and Shelby, the latter suffering from Diabetes. The play highlights the shattering effects of the disease on their lives.

Part of the success of any play depends on cast chemistry which was clearly evident in this production. The audience joined in with them, laughing at their triumphs and feeling the angst the ladies shared when meeting up for their Saturday morning beauty sessions at Miss Truvy’s.  

After a relatively tame start, the action warmed to show cast had sculpted their characters beautifully. Playing with clarity, most were admirably able to maintain a believable southern drawl without over playing. Humour was fully exploited, being one of the strengths of the play, a lot of which was expertly timed and delivered from between the lips of the indomitable Ouiser.

While all performances were commendable, new to town, Anelle, showed a natural and believable development from timid assistant to an imposing Christian, with considerable stage skill. While M’lynn’s emotional and controlled final outburst displayed her strength in dramatic acting.

Although inspirational staging was somewhat inhibited by the storyline, the director cleverly compensated by drawing focus to an eye-catching, (albeit, slightly vintage, English tainted decoration) multi levelled salon. This was complemented by thoughtfully designed lighting which denoted the changing seasons in a pleasing way.

Amidst flowing dialogue, elegant, admirable hairstyles were created before our very eyes, achievable after cast had received an intensive hairdressing course from a bona fide hairdressing society member. It is an extremely difficult task for cast to successfully bring that amount of realism to the stage, something even most professional companies are unable to achieve. Lengthy breaks between acts, obviously ‘period of time’ related, appeared unnecessary and outdated, fortunately cast buoyancy enabled pace to be quickly rebooted.

While it may be true to say that the comedy aspect of this production   outweighed emotional impact on occasion, it did not affect overall enjoyment and satisfyingly offered a creditable, thought provoking evening’s entertainment.

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