Kentucky Wesleyan College’s Wesleyan Theatre Works will present “Steel Magnolias” this weekend, with the first of four performances set for tonight.
Performances will be at 7 p.m. nightly Thursday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday, all in the Ralph Fine Arts Center.
“Based on the real-life family of playwright Robert Harling, the story goes beyond Southern charm to the heart of a mother-daughter relationship and the bonds of friendship and support among women,” A release about the play reads. “Originally a play before it was a hit movie, the action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, La., where all the ladies who are anybody are clients. Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby, who is a diabetic, risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others and draws on the underlying strength and love which give the play and its characters special qualities to make them touching, funny, and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
The play is directed by senior theatre major Alison Miller. Main cast includes Haley Matthews as Ousier, Ashely Butler as Shelby, and Josephine O’Toole as Claree.
Prices are $18 for general admission, $12 for any student, and $15 for KWC staff and faculty. Tickets can be purchased at kwc.edu or at the door.
