Tuned in to Radio National on the morning of this Sydney opening night, I caught an interview with Stacey Page, a former hairdresser and current PhD student at University of Adelaide. She was speaking of research spotlighting the need to better equip beauticians, hairdressers and nail technicians to manage the emotional labour they undertake when the salon chair turns into a therapist’s couch. Too often, Page argued, the client walks away unburdened, leaving the salon worker carrying all the baggage.

It went some way to sharpening my appreciation for Robert Harling’s comedy-drama Steel Magnolias, in which a hair salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana doubles as a de facto community centre for the town’s women and a place to air their worries.

Managed by the ebullient Truvy (played here by Mandy Bishop, in Dolly Parton-style tresses), it’s a place where young and old can talk things out, indulge in gossip and speak freely about their lives – away from men who seem to have more time for shooting, hunting and barbecuing than for their partners.

Steel Magnolias: Debra Lawrance, Lotte Beckett, Jessica Redmayne and Mandy Bishop. Photo © Brett Boardman

Directed by Lee Lewis...