Steel Magnolias bloom in Douglas
College theatre production

Gr" vy’s beauty salon in for business onstage at Douglas College

Chinquapin, Louisiana, is the for their production of Steel Magnolias.

place where everyone who is As the centrepiece of both the popular
anyone goes to have their hair done. 1980s film and Broadway production of
From March 8 to 16, Truvy’s will be open Steel Magnolias, Truvy’s beauty salon

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Chelle Tanner (top left), Tina Djurectic (top right) and Yolanda Buchan
(below) are cast in Steel Magnolias, which opens March 8 in the Studio
Theatre. The mainstage production Village of Idiots opens March 15 in the
Performing Arts Theatre.

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quickly became a cultural icon
representing the strength and humor found
in female friendships. The women of the
play, ranging from owly Ouiser to
wisecracking Truvy, form an affectionate,
eccentric community as the plot follows
the life of one young woman through her
marriage, motherhood, and premature
death.

“Tt deals with the large things that
touch all of our lives,” says director
Pamela Hawthorn, formerly the creative
manager of Telefilm Canada and artistic
director of The New Play Centre in
Vancouver. “It’s a light comedy, but has
undertones of mortality and the big
questions in life.”

Setting an all-female play in a beauty
salon would seem to be a sure path to
sexist caricature, but the women of Steel
Magnolias are gifted with intelligent, witty
dialogue (“I swear to you that my personal
tragedy will not interfere with my ability
to do good hair,” says Annelle) that
portrays them as unique, likable
individuals. The play’s frank humor and
lack of pretense allows its characters to be
funny without being slapstick, and
bittersweet without being morose.

“The strength of the play has to do with
the affection and love of a group of
women in a neighborhood,” says
Hawthorn. “It’s a play that supports those
kinds of human values, the kind of help
and affection friends can give each other.”

The Theatre and Stagecraft
Departments chose to stage Steel
Magnolia because of the current alignment
of talent and venue. The play’s two main
demands - a strong female cast and an
intimate setting in which the audience can
feel like it’s eavesdropping on the
characters - perfectly suited a senior
theatre class that has plenty of female
talent working in the College’s smaller
Studio Theatre.

Steel Magnolias runs from March 8 to
16 at 8pm (including a Saturday matinee,
March 16 at 2pm) in the Studio Theatre.
For information and reservations, call 527-
5488. }