SCENE I
Synopsis
Steel Magnolias takes place in a fictional small town in Louisiana called Chinquapin Parish, in the beauty parlor of Truvy Jones. At the start, young Annelle is doing Truvy’s hair in hopes of a job in a new town and hopefully a new life. Annelle passes the test and is hired, starting with their first clients, the local ladies who are getting ready for the wedding of Shelby Eatonton to Jackson Latcherie. The first of the ladies to arrive is Clairee, the classy and sassy grande dame of Chinquapin. Next to arrive is the bride herself, Shelby, followed by her mother M’Lynn. As the women settle in to chatter about the wedding, the groom, and life in town, their gabfest is interrupted by a medical emergency. Shelby begins to have an extreme low blood sugar reaction, as she has Type 1 diabetes. After some help from her mother and the other ladies, Shelby recovers, much to her embarrassment at the incident. As Shelby recovers, she and M’Lynn reveal that Shelby’s doctor has relayed that pregnancy and childbirth could be dangerous and should be avoided. This revelation led Shelby to tell her fiance the previous evening that they shouldn’t get married, but they talked and the wedding is still happening. When Clairee goes to put some candy into M’Lynn’s purse, she discovers a gun that belongs to M’Lynn’s husband, Drum, who has apparently been shooting into a magnolia tree shared with the town’s crabbiest resident, Miss Ouiser Boudreaux. Just as M’Lynn is sharing the story of the drama between her husband and Ouiser, the woman herself arrives with her dog who is highly agitated from all the gunfire. After Ouiser’s arrival and subsequent prodding, Annelle shares the sad tale of her shady husband, his questionable dealings, and her escape.
www.MilwaukeeRep.com
Lily Rabe as Annelle and Frances Sternhagen as Clairee in the 2005 Revival of Steel Magnolias. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus, Playbill.com.
The scene ends with Drum’s final rally against the magnolia tree birds, some sort of explosives or fireworks, which rile up both Ouiser and her dog, as they stalk off to give Drum what’s coming to him.
SCENE II Later that year, the week before Christmas, the ladies reconvene at Truvy’s to prepare for the town’s Christmas festival. Shelby enters the shop to find M’Lynn alone and all the lights off. Truvy and Annelle are out back fixing a blown fuse. Shelby has come home to visit as she no longer lives in town now that she’s married. Shelby reveals to M’Lynn that she is pregnant. M’Lynn is shocked and concerned, considering the medical guidance Shelby had previously been given. An argument between the two ensues.
3
