DCP’s engaging and entertaining production of writer Robert Harling’s much-traveled, adapted, and mimicked “Steel Magnolias” is probably as good and creditable an example as you can find of a now faded television and radio genre, the “sitcom”, or more formally, a “situation comedy”.
Sitcoms were characterized by--- what else?--- the same characters showing up in almost every storyline in the same setting in the same town in the same time-period, and consistently ending with everyone or almost everyone in the same place they were in when the whole thing started.
The only thing that changed each show was the predicament de jour, or the “situation.”
Those sitcoms generally ran a half-hour or so every week for about six or seven months each TV season.
“Steel Magnolia” amounts to five of those episodes and wraps up in about two-and-and-half hours.
I don’t think anyone in the audience gave much thought to any of this, however.
They were too busy willingly allowing themselves be lured into Truvy’s beauty parlor in the fictional northwestern Louisiana parish of Chinquapin circa mid -1980s, where several local women regularly assemble for every reason that women regularly assembled in Louisiana beauty parlors back then, some of which actually involved having their hair cut and styled, but more importantly where they shared and dissected just about every facet of their personal journeys.
Those journeys included marriage, divorce, betrayal, disease, proselytizing, childbirth, homosexuality, and death. And baked goods.
This is a chummy show with enduringly appealing roles played by deeply invested actors who manage to elevate somewhat stale laugh lines and predictable calamities to a point that the audience just wants to be a part of whatever they’re going through, thick and thin.
Laughter was spontaneous and constant throughout the night. And the strong response at final curtain seemed genuinely appreciative for an evening well-spent.
It’s an ensemble piece, and, as such we will simply say that the sturdy cast did the playwright proud and the script its justlce.
Each of the six actors, most of whom are on the entire evening, displayed considerable stage savvy and convincing grasp of the challenges they faced in order to pull off what is essentially a series of rambling conversations. Their combined sense of pace and tempo was outstanding.
Many congratulations to Jessica Mann, playing steadfast and loyal parlor owner Truvy Jones; Elizabeth Aber as her somewhat feeble-minded salon assistant, Annelle; Deb Takest as the show-stealing town grouch, Ouiser; the joyous Madison Niness as the joyous but doomed Shelby; Marianne Dell-Aquilat in the role of her painfully devoted, but doom-sayer mother, M’Lynn; and Janet Thomson as the well-heeled-enough-to-be-blunt Clairee.
Thomas Rush has directed the material in a way that struck me as a mother goose lovingly herding its meandering gaggle of goslings alongside a busy highway, doing everything possible to keep things moving while at the same time trying to save them from the perils looming at every bend in the road.
The bright and appropriately gaudy set is a character all its own, designed by Kent Gerhart.
Bill Algeo’s sound design may fairly be regarded as several additional characters playing significant roles before, during, and after scene changes.
Costumes by Cathy Zeller and the director contributed considerably to the evocation of the play’s time period, while also accenting dramatic shifts in mood throughout the show.
And credit also must be paid to Props Master Elda Kulp, Stage Captain Sally Siegfried, Stage Manager Shelby Swinder, and Producer Zeller.
“Steal Magnolias” plays through May 3.
For tickets and information, please visit www.dcptheatre.com or call 215-234-0966.
DCP Theatre is located at 795 Ridge Road, Telford, PA.