“Steel Magnolias” is a STAGES
Salute to Strong Southern Women
        

by Pat Lindsey

“Steel Magnolias” is the funniest play I’ve ever seen that turned my belly laughs into grief.
Its abundance of one-liners and Southern words of wisdom make the six female characters familiar and endearing. Actor and playwright, Robert Harling, wrote this play to help ease the pain that his family was going through after his sister died of complications due to diabetes. Somehow, he managed to reveal the female spirit and the depths of female relationships perfectly.
The entire show is set in Truvy’s salon (created by Karen Rance) in Chinquapin, Louisiana in 1986-88, where anyone who is anybody comes to get her hair done. No man would dare enter here. It’s sacred ground for women only. And if the walls could talk, men’s hair would curl.
Scene I opens on the Saturday morning of Shelby’s wedding. Shelby (Taylor Quick) is the prettiest girl in town and she’s about to marry “a good ole Southern boy” that afternoon. While Truvy (Jilanne Marie Klaus) is giving her an updo, the other regulars are engaged in wedding chit chat. There’s M’Lynn (Amy Loui), Shelby’s mother; Clairee (Kari Ely), the wife of the former mayor; and Ouiser (Zoe Vander Haar), the wealthy next-door neighbor. Anelle (Abigail Isom), the born-again Christian, has just started working in the salon as Truvy’s assistant.
During the usual bantering of the regulars, the audience learns that Shelby is diabetic and her doctor has advised her not to have children. Shelby convinces her mother that she and Jackson will try to adopt, but secretly she knows she wants to have her own child.
Holiday decorations in the salon help mark the passage of time. Before we know it, Shelby comes home for a visit and announces that she’s pregnant. Most grandmothers-to-be would be ecstatic to receive this news, but not M’Lynn. She knows what Shelby’s body has already been through and carrying a baby will be extremely dangerous for her. The other women try to be supportive to both Shelby and M’Lynn, but they are clearly trapped in the middle. Shelby is heartbroken that M’Lynn can’t be happy for her, so she tries to explain her feelings to her mother. She says, “I would rather have 30 minutes of ‘wonderful’ than a lifetime of nothing special.”
The six actresses in this show are superb at making the audience feel the joy and pain of everything they’re experiencing on stage. The mother-daughter relationship between Shelby and M’Lynn is truly believable. And there is no doubt that Clairee and Ouiser have been best friends for decades. They bring their eccentric personalities to life with comic relief. Ouiser explains herself by saying, “I’m not crazy. I’ve just been in a very bad mood for 40 years!” And one of Clairee’s lines that pretty well sums her up is, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!” Anelle, the youngest beautician, is in a class by herself. Even though the regulars don’t agree with her hyper-religiosity, they have grown to love her and her quirky ways. Truvy is the steady rock of the group and often a fountain of down-home advice. Her considerate nature is necessary to temper the flightiness of the other characters.
It’s in the third and fourth scenes that tragedy hits, but that is better kept a secret until you can see this beautiful, well-directed production yourself. Just know that there will be more laughs and a satisfying ending. If you liked the movie, you will definitely enjoy this version of “Steel Magnolias.”
“Steel Magnolias” is being presented by STAGES St. Louis in the Ross Family Theater at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center now through June 30. For tickets, go to StagesStlouis.org or call the box office at 314-821-2407.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us