Friends, family, community, sorrow, and a lot of laughter—that would probably be the best way to describe director Gabriella Gadsby’s take on the classic and heartwarming tale, Steel Magnolias. This iconic story will be performed at The Gladstone Theatre from Feb. 29–March 9, and Apt613 has all the details.
We sat down with Gadsby to hear more about her vision for this piece and how her real-life experiences with the women in her life inspired this performance.
Steel Magnolias tells the real-life story of original author Robert Harling’s sister and a group of tight-knit enigmatic women from the Louisiana South. Set in the 1980s, Gadsby says it was crucial to get the style of the setting just right.
“I think the zeitgeist right now is about the fascination with the 80s—sometimes people say, ‘Oh, it’s simpler times,’ but I don’t necessarily think it was simpler,” she says. “I think it felt simpler because we were more physically in community with each other, and I think that’s what this play represents.”
The cast of Steel Magnolias. Photo credit to Jennifer Scrivens, Resonate Photography
The story of the strength and fluidity of womanhood is also a key theme, something Gadsby references often throughout the details of this show. Gadsby sees womanhood as a cycle of threes. She repeats this motif in different ways—three main windows hang from the centre stage and the three moon phases are highlighted to represent the maiden, the mother, and the wise woman.
Gadsby says six women in this performance embody these different stages of womanhood, who are witnessed by each other where the audience truly feels the love and support the characters have for one another.
“It’s really a story about resilience, and I think that’s something we’re longing for right now—is building that resilience through community.”
Photo credit to Jennifer Scrivens, Resonate Photography
This show is also very personal for Gadsby, as many of the themes and characters remind her of the women in her life—mainly, her mother. After her mother immigrated from Brazil to the United Kingdom, Gadsby grew up with a salon at home where she describes her mother giving care and a sense of community growing up. Steel Magnolias also features a salon as one of the main settings, and Gadsby says that this brought up plenty to reflect on.
“I grew up with having that salon at home, having all the neighbourhood women come around, and always sitting in and hearing their stories,” she says. “Hearing how my mom could take this secret, but then also give so much love to them [the community] and really transform them and make them feel really beautiful.”
Photo credit to Jennifer Scrivens, Resonate Photography
This performance of Steel Magnolias runs through International Women’s Day. Gadsby spoke about how this story lifts the voices of women at every stage of their lives, and how it’s a place that understands how much women hold for others every day.
“This play is about holding space for each other, giving back to women because they hold so much. All the characters are rich, and they represent many different faces to women,” she says.
Gadsby hopes that audiences take away one of her favourite emotions when coming to watch this play.
“Laughing through tears—I think one of the characters says that actually! I hope they come away feeling a bit more resilient to the complexity of life that we all have to experience.”
Steel Magnolias will be playing at The Gladstone from Feb. 29–March. 9 at 7:30pm from Tuesday–Saturday, and at 3:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. You can get your tickets online or by contacting the box office at (613)-233-4523 or emailing them at boxoffice@thegladstone.ca. On March 8, The Gladstone will offer a 10% ticket discount on International Women’s Day using the code IWD2024. The Gladstone has barrier-free entry and accessible washrooms, but no automatic doors. For more information, visit their website.
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