Steel Magnolias

THIS heart-warmer, presented by The Nonentities, has the power to leave you both smiling and crying as the curtain closes.

The emotional and funny tale was brought to life by an all-female cast who left plenty of damp eyes at the Rose Theatre.

Audience members were transported back a couple of decades to the 1980s and to the town of Chinquapin in the American state of Louisiana, where six women stick together through the good times and the bad.

There was Truvy, who runs a beauty salon and has a great good sense of humour, played by a bubbly and enthusiastic Tanya Kirk.

She is joined by newbie, Annelle, played by Jennifer Knight, who has just started her new job and is not sure if she is married or not, but will not let her problems get in the way of "doing good hair."

Jennifer Taylor was strong-willed Shelby, who is not going to let her medical condition get in the way of her dreams.

Vilma Watson played her protective mother, M'Lynn, who would do anything for her daughter.

Sandra Tudor was outspoken, successful businesswoman, Clairee while Jan Young was bad-tempered Ouiser, who appeared to love her dog more than people any day.

All of the action takes place in Truvy's beauty shop where the six friends regularly catchup on one each other's lives and the impressive set, complete with all the nick-nacks you would expect, makes the audience feel like they have just walked into a real salon.

While the play does end in tragedy, most of it is a comedy providing plenty of laughs along the way, many of them at the expense of Ouiser.

All of the cast made the most of the play's humour and had good comic timing, especially when it came to the many humorous one-liners.

The southern accents were impressive, particularly Taylor's and Knight's which were faultless, and the costumes, especially Shelby's array of outfits in pink, her favourite colour, helped emphasise the character's personalities.

All in all, it is a very enjoyable performance and plenty of tissues are recommended.

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