Southern Funny Ladies Take Stage at SVP’s Steel Magnolias

March is International Women’s Month and women will be in command of the stage at the Somerset Valley Players production of Steel Magnolias.

Often classified as a ‘comedy/drama’, Steel Magnolias, written by Robert Harling, focuses on the friendship of six Southern women and how love, humor, and wisdom help them meet life’s highs and lows.

“The show really celebrates how deep and sustaining the bonds of female friendship can be,” explains director Holly J. Kowalenko. “The women are strong, opinionated, determined, eccentric, and hilariously funny. The audience never doubts that underneath it all they truly love and support each other.”

“I have such a talented group of experienced actresses in the cast. They shine in the play’s dramatic moments just as much as they do in the comic,” adds Kowalenko. “Their mutual respect underscores the believability of their characters’ camaraderie.”

Kowalenko is no stranger to Southern comedy having directed Dearly Departed, another play set south of the Mason-Dixon line at SVP three years ago. “It’s so much fun to do the accents and the lingo in the script,” she recalls from that experience, “and we’re enjoying spending time onstage in Louisiana where Steel Magnolias is set.”

The action in Steel Magnolias takes place entirely at Truvy’s beauty salon, where the women gossip, argue, reminisce, and bind while getting their hair done. Creating a realistic stage set – with beauty shop furniture and equipment – has been a challenge admits Kowalenko. “We’ve spent an enormous amount of hours trying to get it just right, including having an actual hairstylist work with the actresses playing Truvy and Annelle, the characters who work in the shop.”

A hugely successful film adaptation of the play was released in 1989 that featured male characters who are only talked about in the stage version. “The play’s cast is only six women and takes place in only one set. While it’s different from the movie, the humor and the characters in the play really flourish in the more intimate setting,” Kowalenko states.

Produced by Ed Hayden and stage managed by Shannen Rivers, Steel Magnolias runs weekends through Sunday, March 22, at the Somerset Valley Players theater on 689 Amwell Road (Route 514) in Hillsborough. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8 p.m. Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. The theater is air conditioned, barrier free and wheelchair accessible.
For tickets and show times go to www.svptheatre.org.