FM wrote: ” Steel Magnolias is a tragi/comedy about life in a small town in the deep south of America. Tuvy’s Beauty Parlour is the heart of the community for the female population. Here they come to have their hair done, their nails manicured, their faces pampered. Here too, they come to laugh and cry, gossip and quarrel, to pour out their hearts and share their deepest secrets.
As the story unfolds, the women draw together using wit and humour to show their love and deal with their pain, and we learn the meaning of the play’s intriguing title.”
Publicity #1: Steel Magnolias
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: June 11 1993 issue – page 17
Reporter: Petra Dalton
Text Header: “Magnolias bloom in the Barn”
Text: Content
AN all-female cast will tackle the laughter and heartbreak of Robert Harding’s play Steel Magnolias later this month. The forthcoming production by Wick Theatre Company unfolds a tragi-comic tale of life in a small town in America’s deep south.
The action takes place in Truvy’s Beauty Parlor, the heart of the community for the female population. As well as manicures and hairdos, the women come to the parlor for gossip, quarrels, secret-sharing and to pour out their hearts. Margaret Faggetter plays Truvy, a vivacious woman who has her share of problems but is always ready to lend an ear to others.
The parlor
At the parlor we also meet Annelle [Jenny Brown], a newcomer with a secret past an Shelby [Claire Wiggins], soon to be married but who is forbidden from having children due to poor health. Joan Bearman plays Shelby’s mother, M’Lynn, Daphne Thornton is widowed Clairee – witty, sophisticated first lady of the town – and Paddy Hartley is her friend Ousier, a non conformist, despite her advanced years.
The playa runs at the Barn Theatre, Southwick Community Centre, from June 23 – 26. Tickets, costing, £4, are available from the box office on Brighton 597094
Review #1: Steel Magnolias
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: July 2 1993 issue – page 15
Reviewer: Petra Dalton
Text Header: “Southern belles’ grief and humour”
Text: Content
ANYONE who saw the television film version of Steel Magnolias would not have been disappointed with the Wick Theatre Company’s production which finished its successful three [sic] day run last Saturday. It had the same humorous and weepy element enough to make even the hardest of men wipe a tear from their eye.
Set in Truvy’s [Margaret Faggetter] beauty parlour in the deep south of America, the tragi-comedy follows the friendship of six women, each with their own hang ups and secrets, eventually putting their own problems behind them to comfort M’Lynn [Joan Bearman]. The parlour is the perfect setting for the women to go to to have their hair done, their nails manicured, their faces pampered and generally living up to the saying ‘There is no such thing as natural beauty’.
The young energetic Shelby [Claire Wiggins] is a diabetic and has been told she should not have children. So when Shelby tells her mother M’Lynn she is to have a baby she is none too happy, concerned for the life of her daughter whose body she feels would not be able to cope with the strain.
After the birth of the Shelby’s child M’Lynn announces she is going to give one of her organs to her daughter to keep her alive. The operation goes well but as time goes on Shelby becomes steadily more ill, eventually dying in her mother’s arms. The all-woman cast worked well, except for the few hitches with the lines and the odd slip from the deep south American accent into what sounded like Australian.
