[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: Steel Magnolias at Canton Players Guild

[Tom Wachunas]

Peeling Onions in the Parlor
By Tom Wachunas
    At one point
during the current Players Guild production of Robert Harling’s 1987 play, Steel Magnolias, the surly, eccentric
character, Ouiser Boudreaux, regales her fellow regulars gathered at Truvy’s Beauty
Salon with this cranky pronouncement: “I do not see plays, because I can nap at
home for free.”
    Here, then, is a
robust gumbo of a story, peppered with many such jibes and aphorisms, set in
the small Louisiana parish of Chinquapin. And I can assure you there’s little
chance of falling asleep during this brilliant
performance.
    Director Craig
Joseph has once again brought together a powerhouse ensemble, masterfully (magically?)
eliciting from each of the six women a startlingly intense level of artistry
and believability, right down to their lilting Southern accents. In the
intimacy of the Guild’s arena theater, their deft performances effectively
dissolve the proverbial divide between acting the part and being the part. Likewise,
we in the audience don’t feel like passive voyeurs, but rather privileged
visitors to Truvy’s establishment.
    Truvy’s salon is the local hot spot where a
close-knit group of women faithfully gathers for coiffure and banter both sassy
and sugary. As Truvy, Sandra Schmeltzer is something of a mother hen,
wise-cracking keeper of the camaraderie, and an otherwise delightful social
anchor, exuding authentic warmth and concern toward her chicks, so to speak.
    The story doesn’t “unfold”
so much as it falls away in successive layers, exposing individual secrets and
longings. In the process, the insouciant gossip among the women gives way to
genuinely shared histories, some of them tragic. Yet plenty of gut-splitting
hilarity ensues along the way.
   A particularly
generous portion of humor is provided by Catie Hewitt in her role of Truvy’s
newly hired assistant, Annelle. Hewitt turns in a quirky, wistful and wholly
captivating portrayal of the jittery victim of a runaway husband. She’s easily
rattled by the other ladies’ raucous blathering. After becoming a born-again
evangelical, she’s the in-house missionary of sorts, fervently praying for her
beloved- but -wayward clientele even as they get their hair done.
    Remarkably adept
with razor-sharp timing and delivery in trading sarcastic barbs, both Carol
Sampsel Peck and Susan Brothers turn in infectiously high-energy presentations
of, respectively, senior citizens Clairee (widow of the Mayor and anxiously
looking to re-focus her life) and Ouiser, the rich town grouch everyone loves
to target. “I’m not crazy,” Ouiser protests to her critics, “I’ve just been in
a very bad mood for the last 40 years!”
   Much of the narrative
thrust here is generated by Shelby, played with astonishing, often heartrending
depth by Amanda Larkin, and her rocky relationship with her mother, M’Lynn,
played by Maria Work. Separately or together, they deliver the play’s most
dramatically visceral and poignant scenes. The story that began with Shelby’s
wedding day spans the next few years and climaxes with a shattering family
crisis which has a jarring but transformative effect on all the characters, not
least of which being M’Lynn. While Maria Work at first comes off as
deliberately measured in her character’s prim and proper demeanor, it’s fascinating
to watch her progression into explosive transparency. 
   In the end, I was
left emotionally drained yet in deep appreciation that I had witnessed a
marvelous and compelling achievement - an elegant albeit bittersweet union of
great theatre and real life.
    Steel Magnolias runs through April 28 at
Canton Players Guild Theatre, 1001 Market Avenue N. in Canton. Shows are
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Single tickets are
$11. Box office (330) 453-7617, or visit www.playersguildtheatre.com
    For other reviews
and commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in Canton,
please visit his blog, ARTWACH, at www.artwach.blogspot.com     
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