Steel Magnolias - Richmond Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed director and Olivier Award winner David Gilmore will direct Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias, which will visit Richmond Theatre (May 14 to May 19, 2012) as part of a national tour.
Produced by David Ian Productions, it stars Kacey Ainsworth (as Annelle), Isla Blair (M’Lynn), Cheryl Campbell (Ouiser), Cherie Lunghi (Clairee), Sadie Pickering (Shelby) and Denise Welch (Truvy).
A heart-warming and bittersweet comedy, Steel Magnolias tells the story of six very special friends bonded together by mutual triumphs and tragedies. Sharing each other’s strength and loyalty, these remarkable women survive the cycles of life, birth and death to emerge stronger, closer and still laughing.
Written as a form of therapy following the death of his sister from diabetes, Steel Magnolias has been described as the funniest play ever to make you cry. It was famously filmed in 1989, when it starred Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley Maclaine, Darryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts.
Although Kacey Ainsworth will probably always be remembered as EastEnders‘ Little Mo, she has also appeared on television in Rock & Chips, Midsomer Murders, Tracey Beaker Returns, Hotel Babylon, Where the Heart Is, A Touch of Frost and Peak Practice.
Her stage credits include Calendar Girls (on tour), Sleep With Me and Mothers, Sons and Other Lovers (National Theatre) and Attempts On Her Life, Pale Horse, Once Not and Smacking Mint (Royal Court Theatre).
Isla Blair’s theatre credits include The History Boys, Stuff Happens, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum and Noises Off (National Theatre), Henry IV (Wyndham’s Theatre) and many seasons of work for the Bristol Old Vic Theatre.
Her screen work includes Single Father, Law and Order, Casualty, Midsomer Murders, A Touch of Frost, The Final Cut, When the Boat Comes In and The History Man (TV); Afterlife, Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage Wars, The Monk, The Match, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and The Tennis Court (film).
Cheryl Campbell, most recently seen on television as Miriam Turner in Casualty, has also appeared on screen in The Sarah Jane Adventures, Poirot, Appointment With Death, Lewis, Funland, William and Mary, Peep Show IV and the recent feature film directed by Stephen Frears, Tamara Drewe.
Her stage credits include Noises Off (Piccadilly Theatre and on tour), Life After George (in Guildford and at the Duchess Theatre), Passion Play and The Seagull (Donmar Warehouse) and The Strip (Royal Court Theatre).
Cherie Lunghi was a contestant in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing and subsequently toured with the show in 2009. Her other screen credits include Lewis, The Old Guys, Casualty 1909, Apparitions, The Verdict and the feature film No Ordinary Trifle. She is also well known for her recurring role in the Kenco Coffee ads.
Her stage work includes The Syndicate (Chichester Festival Theatre), Passion Play (Donmar Warehouse), Teeth N’Smiles (Royal Court Theatre) and As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, King Lear and Saratoga (Royal Shakespeare Company).
Most recently seen on screen as Lottie in the BBC’s Popatron, Sadie Pickering’s other regular television roles include Flick Mellor in Waterloo Road and Louise in Material Girl. She has also appeared in the films Acts of Godfrey and Splintered.
Denise Welch is a regular presenter on ITV’s Loose Women and earlier this year competed on the channel’s popular series Dancing On Ice. Her other iconic television roles include Steph Haydock in Waterloo Road, Natalie Horrocks in Coronation Street and Marsha Stubbs in Soldier Soldier.
David Gilmore has directed numerous West End productions, including the original award-winning productions of Daisy Pulls It Off, Lend Me a Tenor and The Hired Man; the Olivier award-winning Defending the Caveman; Grease; All the Fun of the Fair; Beyond Reasonable Doubt; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; Annie Get Your Gun; A Swell Party; Out of the Blue and Fatal Attraction.
Steel Magnolias opens at the Theatre Royal Bath on April 2, 2012, before touring nationally to the New Theatre, Cardiff (April 9 – 14), Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (April 16 – 21), Theatre Royal, Nottingham (April 23 – 28), Theatre Royal, Brighton (April 30 – May 5), Grand Opera House, York (May 7 – 12), Richmond Theatre (May 14 – 19), Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham (May 21 – 26), Theatre Royal, Newcastle (May 28 – June 2), The Mayflower, Southampton (June 4 – 9) and Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes (June 11 – 16).