Star-studded cast including Call The Midwife and The Brittas Empire actors in Steel Magnolias touring to Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

Follow the trials and tribulations of six fierce and sassy women as they set the world to rights in their small town bustling beauty salon.

A star-studded cast includes Harriet Thorpe (best known for her role as Carole Parkinson in The Brittas Empire and Fleur in Absolutely Fabulous), Laura Main (best known as Shelagh Turner and formerly nun Sister Bernadette in BBC One’s Call the Midwife), Diana Vickers (The X Factor star who has gone on to lead roles in many theatre productions including Dial M For Murder and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice) and Lucy Speed (known for her television roles on EastEnders and The Bill, and as a cast member on BBC Radio 4’s The Archers). Completing the line-up are Caroline Harker (A Touch of Frost) and Elizabeth Ayodele (Playboy of the West Indies).

Steel Magnolias brings a very funny and touching story of friendship and the strength that women derive from one another beautifully to life on stage. The show runs at Sheffield Lyceum from January 31 to February 4, 2023. Schedule your appointment now for a night out where all gossip is welcome.

Its director is Anthony Banks (Mrs Warren’s Profession, Girl on the Train, Dial M for Murder). The creative team are; Laura Hopkins (set designer), Susan Kulkarni (costume designer), Richard Mawbey (wig designer), Howard Hudson (lighting designer), Ben and Max Ringham (sound designer).

Scriptwriter Robert Harling based his story in part on his sister, Susan Harling Robinson, who died in 1985 of complications from Type 1 diabetes after the birth of her son and the failure of a relative’s donated kidney. Robert was encouraged to write down the experience to help him come to terms with it. He initially wrote Steel Magnolias as a short story for his nephew. Julia Roberts played Shelby, the character based on Robert’s sister, in the film which was released in 1989, two years after the play was first performed off-Broadway.

Tickets for the show, priced from £15, can be booked through the box office in person, over the phone on 0114 249 6000, or at www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.