Zainab Al-Medhar
Shawville March 11, 2022
A play, full of comedic moments but also very sad and dramatic moments, Steel Magnolias tells the story of six witty, intelligent, resilient women from a small community set in Louisiana.
From March 9 to the 12, the Pontiac Community Players performed live at the Pontiac High School auditorium. The stage was transformed into Truvy’s salon and was directed by Val Twolan-Graham.
Twolan-Graham has taught high school theatre for . . .
32 years and has been involved with the Pontiac Community Players for about five years. Steel Magnolias is the second play she directed.
The first read-through happened in Twolan-Graham’s home in Norway Bay in 2020, but with delays and cancellations, they were unable to put the play on until now, about 18 months from the original timeline.
“Because it’s a show for women, we were able to cast it completely just through word of mouth because we couldn’t do auditions because of Covid,” said Twolan-Graham.
The play was originally written in 1987 by American writer Robert Harling in memory of his sister. The title suggests that the female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel. The cast included Leona Lalonde-Tanguay as Truvy, Tanya-Leigh Maguire as Annelle, Marguerite Carmichael as Clairee, Erin Rousseau as Shelby, Debra Stephens as M’Lynn and Janice Hodgins as Ouiser.
“It really speaks to the power and the resilience of women in a small community,” said Twolan-Graham. “And we are strong, resilient women in small communities. So I think it was a good choice”.
Twolan-Graham picked the play, cast and directed it. It was her vision from start to finish, “people have had Covid projects, this has been mine and we are just so thrilled to see this happen,” she said.
Also the vice president of the Pontiac Community Players, Twolan-Graham explained that she went to PHS and her first role ever was on that exact stage in the 70s and being back here she said “it’s come full circle.”
She gleefully recalled the well-received play on opening night and their tickets that sold in the first few nights.
As about 70 people got settled in, the curtain lifted and Lalonde-Tanguay, who played Truvy, a witty old-school southern hairdresser who loves fashion, is seen at her hair salon. Just a few lines in you knew she was from Louisiana with Lalonde-Tanguay perfectly emulating the character she was portraying.
Because Truvy is the main character, one of the challenging aspects of playing her, highlighted Lalonde-Tanguay was learning all the lines “So that was the most challenging was to try to do Truvy justice and not fumble my lines and do myself justice at the same time.”
One of the aspects of live performances that people don’t see is all the tears that go on backstage, remarked Lalonde-Tanguay. What people see is confidence on stage but before that, she noted that there are a lot of jitters backstage and last minute read-throughs.
After what had been a long journey to get to this stage, she certainly has mixed feelings. “I’ll be happy to sleep again, and I’ll be sad because Truvy has been my life for two years,” Lalonde-Tanguay said.
Principal of PHS, Debra Stephens said being cast as M’Lynn was a dream role. She pointed out that the best part about being in this play was getting to act alongside the other women. “Spending this much time together we’ve developed a really good friendship, we really rely on each other up here the same way the ladies in the play rely on each other.”
Stephens noted that the experience was all the more richer due to the fact that she got to perform withh her daughter, Erin.
She also added that performing live in a more intimate setting was neat because as an actor you can feed off the audience and get instant feedback.
Stephens highlighted that the community helped them restore the auditorium and so being able to hold community theatre once again has been “wonderful” she said. “The vision is that when we weren’t using it during the day the community could use it. And so it’s wonderful to have community theatre back in the space again and to have the community back in the school again,” said Stephens.
Twolan-Graham echoing the same sentiment, pointed out that having the opportunity to direct these women, and seeing the play come to fruition has allowed them to create special bonds together.
“The camaraderie that women have experienced has been phenomenal and we have experienced joy through this process and loss of loved ones as well. It’s been important.”
Without giving too much away, Twolan-Graham hinted that she is certainly looking at working on a new project now that this performance is complete.
