Steel Magnolias

The ever popular tale of the trials and tribulations of a gang of Southern belles was the Arts Club's choice to open the new season - and a very interesting and varied programme of entertainment seems to be on the menu for this season too - and as always, the happy band of players came up trumps with this story of highs and lows as regaled from the beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana. With as many poignant moments as humorous ones, this is a play which needs a cast where everyone is at the top of their game; naturally, the Arts Club team brought the usual touch of class to proceedings and provided a thoughtful evening's entertainment.

The action of the play takes place over a couple of years in the late 1980s and the set suggested the '80s setting very well indeed, with the subtle changes to the salon between scenes reflecting the constantly changing fashions of that most glamorous of decades. Similarly, costumes, hairstyles and the choice of music used in the show all combined to summon up a flavour of the era superbly. All too often, there is a 'grab bag' approach to evoking a particular time or place, where clunkingly obvious signposts are lazily chosen to do the job of setting the scene - but not here: the much more subtle and realistic approach was much appreciated and the play did not lurch into a rather feeble exercise in nostalgia for its own sake, or for a cheap laugh or two. The characters, the story and the play's themes were allowed space to breathe without turning into an exercise in garish set dressing or being swamped by a collection of '80s tat.

Salon owner Truvy Jones, superbly played by Sara Ashton, was very much the 'facilitator' of the play, being the hub around which all the characters revolved and her maternal regard for each of her regulars, young and old, really shone through. New girl Annelle was another of Neely Jillings' well-rounded creations, really bringing to life this comical Southern bumpkin. Both ladies also came up trumps in the hair styling department too, effortlessly spraying, styling, trimming, filing and buffing their way through the show! The Grande Dame of the piece, Clairee Belcher, was every inch the classy powerhouse you might expect from Kathleen Watkins; a typically confident, sparky performance from Kath which added a gilt edge to the character. Clairee's nemesis, the crotchety Ouiser Boudreaux played by Jean Leigh, was a good contrast to the other ladies of the salon and was a welcome addition to the mix. At the centre of the piece perhaps, mother and daughter M'Lynn and Shelby really drive the emotional thrust of the play; Tammy Mason and May Daley gave two very strong and characterful performances.

There were many things to take from this production and Sarah Nolan is to be congratulated for her considered approach in directing the play. I don't find the play either as comical or tearjerking as it likes to think it is, so the decision to concentrate on the bonds which tied the disparate group of ladies together, despite their seemingly incompatible personalities, was an excellent one. The flashes of humour really came through from the cast and the more emotional moments were handled with skill and never tipped over into mawkishness or embarrassment. May Daley's Shelby was the standout performance of the night for me; May gave a really honest and natural portrayal of the character which was tremendously appealing.

One thing which did strike me as being something of a fly in the ointment with the production was what might be considered the 'accent problem'. That isn't to say that anyone let the side down and didn't quite master the Louisiana accent; everyone on stage did a great job. The problem seemed to be that the work needed to maintain the accent had the effect of leeching the vocal colour from the dialogue with a resulting lack of variety of inflection: it seemed to be that whether happy or sad, jokey or anguished, playful or angry, the same vocal pitch dominated and any variation in vocal dynamics was sadly lacking. The tediously tricky accent and the need to keep it up had the effect of dominating the dialogue and affecting the performances, rather than being an ornamentation which was a little unfortunate: it could of course just be my tendency to find the monotonous Southern drawl rather tiresome. That said, there wasn't a dip or a falter from anyone on stage accent-wise throughout the evening: well done ladies!

This was a typically successful Arts Club production which benefitted from polished performances, thoughtful direction and spot-on technical back-up. The music chosen for the salon was well chosen - including an occasional appearance from Fran Thomas as possibly Louisiana's campest DJ! - costumes, props and the salon set helped to create just the right atmosphere and with a great cast to bring the play to life, the result was an enjoyably warm and gently humorous evening's entertainment. My thanks as always go to all at the Arts Club for another winning evening at the theatre. 

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