A brilliantly forged makes for a splendidly perky and poignant Steel Magnolias at Richmond Theatre after which touring the UK
“I’m not crazy…I’ve just been in a very bad mood for 40 years”
With its affirmations that “the higher the hair, the closer to God”, it may be straightforward to dismiss Steel Magnolias as a pleasant piece of bouffant camp. But while Robert Harling’s play actually is that in locations, it’s also a thought of and affecting examine of feminine friendship and the solace it might probably present when coping with feckless husbands and lovers and the difficulty they will deliver. It’s a play I like – certainly I noticed a beforehand touring manufacturing right here at Richmond Theatre again in 2012 and adored Matthew Parker’s intimate model at the Hope Theatre in 2016 – and Anthony Banks’ new touring manufacturing meets the mark, with an exceptionally well-cast ensemble.
Set over a handful of years in small-town Lousiana, a gaggle of girls commonly collect in Truvy’s magnificence parlour to gossip mercilessly, complain concerning the males of their lives and infrequently get their hair did. As they have a good time marriages and births, ponder life as a widow or taking a brand new lover, we are able to’t assist however fall in love with them and the security internet of help that they variously supply one another. And as sacrifices are made, in an effort to please these males, the bodily and emotional toll that this takes manifests itself in heartbreaking methods, one thing that Banks’ path astutely reinforces by means of the recalibration of a number of the relationships right here.
Call the Midwife could have largely stored Laura Main from the stage lately (she was in a superb Company again in 2011 that additionally featured Cassidy Janson and Katie Brayben) however she is phenomenal because the estimable M’Lynn, whose emotional turbulence is stored in so long as she will be able to bear – although wrought throughout her deeply expressive face – till she shatters painfully. Diana Vickers impresses as her daughter Shelby, dogged in pursuit of what she desires, whether or not child’s breath in her hair or precise child breath in her house. And because the redoubtable Ouiser, Harriet Thorpe presents a extra genial interpretation of the character which solely serves to deepen the emotional connections she brings.
That heat is totally an indicator of this manufacturing. Lucy Speed’s Truvy epitomises this fantastically, because the plain-talking, straight-shooting nucleus round which the group spins and with echoes of Dolly Parton on each the stereo and in her magnificent hairstyle (shout-out to Richard Mawbey’s wig work), her deeply compassionate natures radiates all through. Caroline Harker’s Clairee and Elizabeth Ayodele’s Annelle spherical out the forged – Serena Hill’s casting is expertly achieved (and the manufacturing can be getting their cash’s value from her as the corporate can be largely recast for the latter a part of the tour). But while this pitch-perfect ensemble is in place, there’s a lot to get pleasure from on this splendidly perky and poignant present.
Running time: 2 hours half-hour (with interval)
Photos: Pamela Raith
Steel Magnolias runs at Richmond Theatre till twenty eighth January after which continues to tour to:
31 January – 4 February Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
7 – 11 February Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford
14 – 18 February Theatre Royal, Bath
21 – 25 February The Lowry, Salford
28 February – 4 March Theatre Royal, Brighton
7 – 11 March Palace Theatre, Southend
21 – 25 March Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
28 March – 1 April Wycombe Swan Theatre, High Wycombe
4 – 8 April Curve Theatre, Leicester
11 – 15 April Theatre Royal, Nottingham
18 – 22 April New Theatre, Cardiff
25 – 29 April Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
2 – 6 May Malvern Theatre
9 – 13 May Northcott Theatre, Exeter
16 – 20 May Milton Keynes Theatre
23 – 27 May Everyman Playhouse, Liverpool
30 May – 3 June Theatre Royal Glasgow
6 – 10 June The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin
13 – 17 June New Theatre, Hull
20 – 24 June Wyvern Theatre, Swindon
4 – 8 July Orchard Theatre, Dartford
11 – 15 July Grand Theatre, Leeds
18 – 22 July Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton
Laura Main and Caroline Harker will seem as much as and together with Cardiff.
Harriet Thorpe, Diana Vickers and Lucy Speed will seem as much as and together with High Wycombe.
Elizabeth Ayodele will seem in any respect venues.
Further casting to be confirmed quickly