February 14, 2025/Midnight
Erie, Pa – What happens when six Southern women gather at a small salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana? The answer: a lot, from laughter to tears and even emotionally transformative moments. Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias offers audiences a glimpse into the dynamic relationships between these women and how they find comfort in each other.
Set in a beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, the play follows six Southern women who regularly gather to style their hair, share gossip, and reveal secrets they just cannot keep. The salon is a central gathering spot in the neighborhood, run by its owner, Truvy Jones, and her anxious assistant, Annelle. Their frequent customers include Clairee Belcher, a wealthy widow; Ouiser Boudreaux, a sharp-tongued woman in her sixties with a grudge against the world; M’Lynn, a compassionate career woman; and her daughter, Shelby, the prettiest girl in town.
The plot spans three years of conflicts and changes, focusing on Shelby’s battle with Type 1 diabetes and how these women support one another, often with a fair amount of verbal ribbing. As hairstyles evolve, some members of the group stick to their core, while others experience profound transformations in both faith and appearance. Shelby’s choice to have a child despite her health risks, Clairee’s roller-coaster friendship with the grumpy Ouiser, and Annelle’s evolution from a timid newcomer to a free spirit and eventually a deeply religious woman all adds emotional depth to the story. Truvy’s dynamic with the men in her family also plays a role. While Shelby’s struggles and her relationship with her mother, M’Lynn, take center stage, the unshakable bond between these women remains the heart of the play.
In an interview with Garden & Gun, Harling said that the title of the play was inspired by a metal floral paperweight. “I found it interesting that the thing was neither steel nor a magnolia, but that’s what she (a woman in his neighborhood) called it,” Harling states. “And the imagery stuck. Something beautiful made of very strong stuff.”
Steel Magnolias is based on the death of Harling’s sister, Susan, who passed away from complications of Type 1 diabetes. Just like Shelby in the play, Susan married and built a family despite the risks to her health. After giving birth to a baby boy in 1983, she passed away two years later, during surgery at the age of 33. At the time, Harling had been living in New York for eight years and feared that his two-year-old nephew would grow up without knowing his mother. Motivated by this, he wrote Steel Magnolias to preserve her memory.
This upcoming week, Steel Magnolias will arrive at Gannon’s Schuster Theatre with a production directed by Angela Howell. The production will run from Feb, 14 to Feb. 22. Gannon students can enter the coupon code SWEET for $5 off the ticket price (one code per transaction). For more information, click here.
