Steel Magnolias

I was intrigued by the title of this comedy-drama by Robert Harling, first produced in 1987 in New York, brought to the London stage at the Lyric Theatre in 1989 and subsequently made into a film starring, amongst others, Dolly Parton and Shirley Maclaine.

As the play unfolds, it becomes evident that the title is quite apt; "Steel" for the outward strength of a group of women who, through their friendship, experience together many emotional life changes and "Magnolias", for their inward vulnerability.  The story begins on the morning of Shelby Eatenton's wedding and covers events over the next two and a half years, following Shelby's decision to have a baby, despite being a diabetic and in defiance of her mother's advice and concerns for her daughter's health, with the tragic complications that result from that fateful decision.

The action centres around a beauty parlour in Chinquapin, Louisiana and the clients who meet there for their regular hair-dos.  The open stage set designed by John Wetherall depicted a typical small town beauty parlour of the 1980's.  This was delightful, with great attention to detail, complete with running water at the hair-washing basins!  With a good lighting plot and realistic sound effects, this all helped to create the atmosphere and drama of the play and provided a pleasing backdrop to the various scenes.  The well-chosen costumes and props, too, illustrated well the changing seasons and passage of time and, as such, added an important element to this production.

Mike Carver, as Director, had used his expertise to draw every emotion out of the play and the talent of the six actresses was very much in evidence, with great sense of timing, keeping the pace sustained throughout the performance.  Both Lisa Turpcu, as Truvy Jones, the owner of the beauty parlour and Corrina Graham-Hodson, as her newly appointed assistant Annelle Dupuy, are to be congratulated on the very authentic hairdressing skills they displayed whilst delivering their lines.  This demanded confidence and concentration in equal measure and was proof of much rehearsal time spent in perfecting their roles.  Well done!

Enjoyable too, was the spirited performance from Lauren O'Neill as Shelby, the tension in the relationship between her and her mother M'Lynn, convincingly and emotionally played by Penny Deans, very well portrayed.  In contrast, Maggie Smith brought a touch of humour in her characterisation of Ouiser Boudreaux, the Eatenton's grouchy, twice-widowed neighbour.

Sue Carver's performance as Clairee Belcher, a widow who gradually comes out of her shell and aspires to buying the local radio station was, sadly, slightly marred through the difficulty in clearly hearing her lines.  I'm not sure whether this was due to lack of microphone coverage towards the back of the set, where most of her dialogue took place, or some other technical problem, as the other characters' lines were well-projected and audible.

As a consequence, just occasionally, some of the humour and tension was lost in an otherwise very enjoyable performance of this thought-provoking play about the bond of friendship that surrounds and supports a group of women through their times of sadness and joy.

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