FOLLOWING the sellout success of On Golden Pond last October, Dorchester director Mel Hooley is returning to the town arts centre with Somerleigh Players and another American classic, Steel Magnolias by playwright Robert Harling.

A heart-warming and bittersweet comedy-drama, 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 and closer.

Steel Magnolias has been described as the funniest play ever to make you cry and is best known for having been turned into a blockbusting film starring Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts and Sally Field.

The play stars Georgie Willis, Tamsin Hyde, Imogen Clarke, Kate Gorman, Sally Little and Mary Sharp – some regular performers in the county town, others newcomers. Mel has also received immense support from Dorchester Drama veteran Trevor Williams.

Mel said: “I started off wanting to do something British but then so many fantastic women came out of the woodwork and turned up for audition that Steel Magnolias seemed the best thing to do!

“It is a really strong cast and I am really hoping the show will do as well as On Golden Pond.”

She added: “It is a very powerful piece that is funny and sad. It’s also one of the hardest things I have ever done – there are six women on the stage set, which is a hairdressing salon and you have to make it as realistic as possible. I say to them, ‘If you have to push past someone you get somewhere, just push. That’s what you would do in real life’.”

Mel continued: “It is quite hard because the women in the play aren’t caricatures, they are real people and we have to do them justice. But we are having a great time, we all want to be here and it is very special.”

Steel Magnolias is at Dorchester Arts centre in School Lane, The Grove, Dorchester on May 30 and 31 and June 1 at 8pm. Tickets are £9 plus concessions – call 01305 266926 for tickets and full details.