“I can’t talk about it,” a woman, caught up in her own problems, said.
“Of course you can!” the others responded in unison.
That’s typical banter when a group of six vibrant Southern women gather at a beauty salon in a small Louisiana town to share their joys and sorrows in “Steel Magnolias,” staged at Theatre Arlington May 3-19.
Through those conversations, you witness female energy and strength, purity and nobility, power and pride — all the qualities of the magnolia flower — reflected through the characters.
If the play name and the setting ring a bell, you may have seen the 1989 film, which came out two years after the stage original — the one with Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacLaine. It’s a real tear-jerker that some criticize as cheesy.
Theatre Arlington, however, will stay faithful to the original stage production written by American writer Robert Harling.
If you go
What: Theatre Arlington’s production of “Steel Magnolias”
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, May 3-19
Where: 305 W. Main St., Arlington
Price: $30 for students and 62 and older; $35 for adults
Following “Steel Magnolias,” Theatre Arlington will present the Comedy Club, which includes skits and improv, at 10:30 p.m. May 10-11 and May 17-18.
Visit here for more details.
Unlike the film version, which introduces more settings and characters, everything about the stage production takes place inside the beauty salon, said Steven Morris, production director and executive producer of Theatre Arlington.
The stage production features only six female characters. Male characters are mentioned in the conversations among the women, but the audience will not see them.
“I like plays that make you laugh and make you cry and have a big range of emotion, and this one has that,” Morris said.
In Theatre Arlington’s production, the hair dryers and sink actually work, so two characters, owner Truvy and newcomer Anelle, actually fix the other ladies’ hair on stage.
“You really get the sense that you are sitting in a beauty shop, sitting in the waiting room watching what’s going on with these ladies,” Morris said.
As the audience sits in the waiting room, they get to watch these women get their hair done, laugh, cry, empathize and find nurturing connections. While their outward appearance changes, it’s the gossipy exchange that shows their interior beauty.
It’s the banter that allows the steel magnolias to bloom.
