Frequently heartwarming – but just as frequently heart-wrenching – Robert Harling’s celebrated ensemble piece, Steel Magnolias, comes to the stage of the Coast Capital Playhouse next week (opening March 4) in all its 1980s-costumed, big-haired, Southern-accented glory.
The ‘steel magnolias’ of the play – presented locally courtesy of Peninsula Productions and director Wendy Bollard – are the core regular patrons of Truvy’s in-home beauty parlour in a small Louisiana community.
Film and TV writer Harling drew on personal experiences in his own family to create his only stage play, which premiered in 1987.
His gift to audiences has been to create six enduring, rounded, real and relatable women characters. More than just grist for the dramatic mill, their conversational exchanges – whether comic, touching, ludicrous, bittersweet or tinged with tragedy – are the very stuff of life itself.
There’s sassy, wise Truvy herself (Carrie Anne Fleming); her eager, shy assistant Annelle (Sarah Green); wealthy widow Clairee (Robyn Bradley); town curmudgeon Ouiser (Barbara Pollard); career woman M’Lynn (Lori Tych) and her pretty daughter, Shelby (Becky Hachey), giddy with the all the excitement of her imminent wedding.
There may be bickering and differences on the issues that confront them during this emotional roller-coaster – but underlying it all is the genuine love and respect each of the characters has for the others.
Naturally such a play stands or falls on the creation of a viable on-stage ensemble to bring the women to life, but Bollard said she was delighted by her choices very early in the rehearsal process.
“I wanted to cast not just great actors, but also people I knew were team players,” she said in a recent between-rehearsals conversation with players Green, Fleming and Bradley.
“There are no divas – there’s none of that energy at all,” noted Bradley, who added the actors’ commitment to the play and their characters was evident from the first read-through – and the group dynamic soon mirrored the camaraderie in the script.
“I knew it was going to be good,” said Fleming, who comes to the play from an extensive background in film and TV work. “But it’s better than I hoped for – we’ve all bonded really quickly.”
“I love the story,” Green added. “I was dying to be part of this.”
“After directing Waiting For The Parade (a Second World War homefront drama presented by Peninsula Productions in 2011) I wanted to direct another play that was all women,” Bollard said. “To get to do Steel Magnolias is even better than I’d imagined.
“(Harling’s script) is a love letter to women and what we’re capable of – that really comes across in the play. There’s no dissing of women here; no stereotypes.”
But men aren’t treated as an easy target either, Bollard said.
“Harling is honest about how men have disappointed these women. But you also learn how some men have come into their lives and been good guys.”
Green, Fleming and Bradley agreed that they’ve all enjoyed getting to know – and like – the characters they’re playing.
“Annelle has quite the journey – one of the biggest journeys in the play,” Green said. “She’s quite a shy person, looking for love and acceptance at the beginning of the play – but she’s also looking for herself.”
“Truvy’s a total rock star,” Fleming said.
“Wendy’s pushing me to be even bigger – it’s a wonderful opportunity to do all the stuff I cut out in film and TV.”
“Carrie Anne and I did a film together 10 years ago,” Bollard said. “I wanted to work with her again and this was the perfect opportunity.”
Bradley said she’s enjoying the emotional depth of the recently-widowed Clairee, who is trying to come to terms with life without her husband.
“Their relationship with each other was really special – it defined who she was,” she said.
“Now, she’s finding a way to try new things, experience new experiences and redefine herself.”
“You see these women at different ages and different stages of their lives – you watch them get through the different things they’re going through,” said Fleming.
“You learn so much about being a human – and that helps you as an actor.”
Steel Magnolias runs until March 14 at the Coast Capital Playhouse (1532 Johnston Rd.)
Tickets ($25/20) are available from 604-536-7535 or www.peninsula productions.com
