Review - Steel Magnolias

Steel Magnolias

By Robert Harling

Directed by Natasha Boyd

Cast:

Truvy Jones – Sonja Prater

Annelle Dupuy-Desoto – Ebony Beaton

Clairee Belcher – Julie Wade

Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie – Marianne McLoughlin

M’Lynn Eatenton – Errin Hewlett

Ouiser Boudreaux – Maree Hingston

Mountview Theatre Macedon

August – September 2013

Steel Magnolias a skillfully written work by Robert Harling will make you laugh and make you cry in this beautifully handled production by the great team of theatre makers that constitutes The Mount Players.  

On a practical and purposeful set (Alison Dudon) of a hairdresser’s salon in dusky pinks and greens, many social pretenses are dropped and a tender, moving story of women’s loyal and loving friendships is played out to significant cathartic effect.

This is an exemplary amateur theatre production with Director Natasha Boyd eliciting beautiful work from her talented troupe actors.  Ms. Boyd displays a fine eye for detail in her staging and complex management of stage business.  The actor’s placement on the stage is consistently comfortable and appropriate to the action at all times.

The acting is dependably good.  Sonja Prater energetically leads a great cast of skilled actors who are able wholly don their character’s 1980s Southern American personalities and accents.

Julie Wade works well with the character of Clariee Belcher, often watching from the edge and then endowing her friends with a sagacious pearls of wisdom. 

Ebony Beaton makes a delightful young apprentice Annelle Dupuy-Desoto.  She very convincingly gets about doing all the things an apprentice does and travels quite some complex character journey throughout the evening.

Errin Hewlett as M’Lynn Eatenton puts in an especially moving performance in her expression of aching sadness, distress and anger. In this production the successful staging of this pivotal moment in the play is due to the believability of the enduring relationships between characters that have been so well fleshed out by all six actors.

M’Lynn’s daughter Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie is interpreted with just the right touch of vulnerability by Marianne McLoughlin.

The character of Ouiser Boudreaux as played by Maree Hingston is lively and insightful and a great comic foil.

As the season goes on all actors will comfortably afford to allow their characters to further grow and develop from this very sound start into a production that is pacey, detailed and truly flies.

The word around the traps is that the bookings are extremely heavy so it may be difficult to find seats but certainly try not to miss out.  Mount Players have a website and a 1300 number for bookings.

(For Stage Whispers)