Southern charm and sisterhood: Centralia High School brings “Steel Magnolias” to life

​By: Bailee Farrens, Contributing Writer

Centralia High School (CHS) theatre department is preparing for a heartfelt production of the 1987 play, “Steel Magnolias”.

This play focuses on friendship, love, heartache, grief and resilience of Louisiana southern belles in the 1980’s.
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The cast this year consists of six female roles and one male role. The cast is composed of seniors, Bailee Farrens, Caitlin Mayfield, Ava Page, Bethany Raps, juniors Lane Chancellor and Olivia Morris and sophomore Shae Lockwood. With the complexity of this play, there will be four to eight technicians helping run the stage and lights. 

Dr. Andrew Darr, Language Arts instructor and director of the theatre department, considered the qualities of each actor and if they could bring the heavily acted play to life. “I typically pick plays based on the body of actors we have in the theatre department at the time. I have wanted to do this play for a while, but needed the right set of very strong female actors, and this was the perfect year to do so,” said Darr. 

With bringing the play to life, Darr highlighted the complexities of a small cast. “Casting is always a challenge, and it is doubly so for a play with this few people. We do monologue auditions in May along with cold reading call backs before choosing a cast. We were very pleased by the range of CHS students that came out for the play,” said Darr. 

Along with the cast comes this play's set design. While straying from a traditional changing set, Steel Magnolias will be the first fully enclosed single location realistic set in over four years. Not only will there be walls enclosing the stage and a screen door, but also a fully functioning hair washing sink. The idea behind the concept is that the audience will feel like they are in Truvy’s Salon. 

The theater department is excited to bring each character in this play to life. Ava Page, who plays beloved M’lynn Eatenton, reflects on what this role is like for her. “Being given the opportunity to play M’lynn means so much to me. Her story roots deeper for me than any other character because we lost my cousin when he was young. Playing M’lynn is for my aunt. Seeing her in the audience and doing this for her is what truly matters to me,” said Page. 

CHS theater department is thrilled to have all of their hardwork and dedication into bringing Louisiana southern charm to the stage. The play will run November 22 and 23 at 7:00 p.m. with a final performance on November 24 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. Join us for a night full of laughter, cheer and some tears.