This black comedy about white trash started as a play, became a film with Olivia Newton-John and then a US TV series, being the last project of Rue McClanahan (Golden Girls).
Our tale unfolds in a small Texas town, following the untimely demise of matriarch Peggy Ingrams after she trips over a lover’s discarded wooden legs in a hotel room. Her two daughters are opposed – one trying desperately to maintain a facade of respectability, the other attempting to expose the hypocrisy she sees all around her. Her sister, Sissy, is left to tend to the rest of the family, mending broken bridges with pie and valium.
After a slow-moderate start, everything picks up halfway through and the character of Brother Boy is introduced to us. Kept in an asylum by his mother for 23 years for being gay, he has found his coping mechanism for dealing with life – putting on wigs and becoming various Queens of Country. Martin Buttery shines in this role, making it loveable and endearing.
This is an amateur production and at times that is quite apparent – but the storyline and gusto with which it manifests is enthralling.
Good raucous laughs, human emotions and a farcical ending make this a very enjoyable 1hr 30mins.
3/5 
Zander Bruce
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