Steel Magnolias

ONE IS INCLINED to forget that this favourite film of the 1980s was actually a play before it was extended so terrifically to become considered a minor classic of the era. This is not only because it is an engaging piece of work, but it also had one of the best ensemble casts in any movie.

Playwright Robert Harling based the play on his own experience when his sister died, and the play is really about the bonds – friendship, emotional and much more – between a group of Southern women in fictional small-town Louisiana. As the title suggests the "female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel". 

And this really is the gift of this play and it should not be forgotten that there are three crucial elements that need to be successful in order to make it work – particularly in an intimate setting where the performances are so close to us that we feel as if we are part of the action.

Firstly, attention needs to be paid in creating “true” characters so that the actors don’t simply hide behind plot and words; the Southern accents need to be authentic and there needs to be a strong emotional “truth” in the characters and their actions. In other words, it needs to come from “within” and not be superimposed.

In his second production of this work, director Alan Cooke has achieved most of this with a cast of varying degrees of experience. He has created a strong ensemble with the six women – all with pretty good Southern drawls – who clearly connected in this tale of a beauty shop and the women who meet there. Laced with plenty of humour, it may be a play about a group of gossipy Southern women, but what makes this well-written play so appealing is that it is essentially about, their relationships and events that we completely identify with and understand.

Truvy Jones, the beauty shop owner, is the central character in the play and Zia Macey gave an emotionally connected, empathetic and sustained performance. It is often said that a good acting performance should not be measured by the action but the “reaction” and this affecting performance was a case in point.

After last year’s positive impact in Cosi, young Abbie Lee as Shelby continues to stride forward in confidence with a clear, straightforward take on the young girl who eventually succumbs to diabetic complications.

There was a totally believable multi-layered mother-daughter relationship between her and Morgan Eldridge as her mother, M’Lynn. Recognised more for her appearances in Townsville musical theatre, Eldridge gave a mature, sustained and thoughtful performance. She played a character who is an exercise in quiet, unobtrusive control, and achieved it with a discreet assurance and definitive stage presence.

Nicole Ireland was a sheer delight as Clairee Belcher, the wealthy witty former lady mayoress who “loves [you] more than my luggage” and she has some of the best comic lines in the play. Ireland delivers them with wit and aplomb with is no forced delivery in any of her sparkling lines.

Ellie Rahmel gives an amusing take as the introverted beauty-shop assistant, Annelle, and completing the cast is Karyn Payne in the plum role of the sarcastic grouch, Ouiser: “I’m not crazy. I’ve just been in a bad mood for 40 years.”

From a local perspective, NQOMT needs to be applauded in diversifying its repertoire to mount this production. There are enormous problems facing the performing arts in Townsville including a serious lack of venue space (there is only one major theatre space for a city of 200,000), and with the demise of a long-standing theatre company, it is a sound decision for the company to fill a theatrical gap by presenting plays like this in the company’s rehearsal space. While it has both challenges and opportunities, I look forward to seeing more of this sort of thing produced in this space.   

Review by Trevor Keeling

Photographer: Dee Kirkman