About

STEEL MAGNOLIAS

Production by:Concerned with a group of gossipy southern ladies in a small-town beauty parlor, the play is alternately hilarious and touching—and, in the end, deeply revealing of the strength and purposefulness which underlies the antic banter of its character. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, (“I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years”); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad. A stage play by American writer Robert Harling, based on his experience with his sister’s death. The play is a comedy-drama about the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana. The title suggests the “female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel”.

TICKETS: £15.00/£12.00 conc. available on line at www.dylanthomastheatre.org.uk or at the theatre on 01792 473238. (Please note, tickets are not posted out but await collection at the theatre).