STEEL MAGNOLIAS by Robert Harling
Opening Night is Friday, April 17 @ 8pm
Purchase Your Tickets in Advance at the following Jasper, Pickens County Merchants -
Jasper Drug Store, Chestatee State Bank and Hollywood FX Hair Studio
On Opening Night, with your pre-purchased tickets, drop by 61 Main for ‘Girls Night Out’ – Get 1/2 Off a Bottle Of Wine and 10% off Your Meal, Compliments of 61 Main
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
By Robert Harling
The action centers around Truvy’s beauty parlor and some women who regularly gather there. The drama begins on the morning of Shelby’s wedding to Jackson and covers events over the next three years, including Shelby’s decision to have a child despite having Type 1 diabetes and the complications that result from the decision. We also get a glimpse of the unlikely friendship between Clairee and Ouiser; Annelle’s transformation from a shy, anxious newcomer in town, to a partying woman, then to a religious fundamentalist; and Truvy’s relationships with the men in her family. Although the main storyline involves Shelby, her mother, and Shelby’s medical battles, the underlying group-friendship among all six women is prominent throughout the drama.
Background
As noted in the Special Features on the Steel Magnolias DVD, the story of Steel Magnolias is based on the tragic death of Robert Harling’s younger sister, a diabetic. As her best friend and closest sibling, Robert found it very difficult to cope with her death. He was advised by many of his friends to write about his feelings as a coping method. It began as a short story and evolved into a full length play due to the complexity of the relationships and emotions that existed within the characters. Harling felt it important to include the way the characters utilized humor and light hearted conversations to assist them in coping with the seriousness of the underlying situations. Harling wanted the moviegoers to have a true experience of what his family endured during his sister’s hospitalization. One of the ways he did this was by employing the nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff that worked with his sister as characters in the movie portraying their real life roles. Because of the true to life situation, this movie is received by viewers in many different ways.
The setting for the movie is the fictional small town of Chinquapin, Louisiana which is located in the fiction parish (county) of Chinquapin. The movie was actually filmed in Natchitoches, Louisiana which is located in Natchitoches Parish. Not widely known is the fact that Natchitoches comes from an Indian word meaning “chinquapin eaters”, the chinquapin being a nut that is indigenous to that area. Thus, while the location itself is fictional, it does have a direct reference to the actual location of the setting. Natchitoches is also the oldest city in the Louisiana Purchase having been founded in 1714.
Steel Magnolias. (2009, March 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:50, April 5, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steel_Magnolias&oldid=279815775
