Truvy Jones runs a successful beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are ‘anybody’ in the neighbourhood have a standing Saturday appointment.

Along with her anxious and eager new assistant, Annelle, Truvy styles the hair of many of the women about town: wealthy widow and former first lady of Chinquapin, Miss Clairee, local curmudgeon Miss Ouiser ("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for forty years”), intelligent and compassionate career woman M’Lynn, and her daughter Shelby, the prettiest girl in town.

Shelby’s engagement is the talk of the town, but the joy and excitement of her wedding quickly turn to concern as she faces a risky pregnancy and a myriad of health complications.

The funniest play to ever make you cry

Eventually, when Shelby dies from complications related to her diabetes, M’Lynn has to deal with the most difficult of life’s challenges: the loss of one’s child.

As the women of Chinquapin makes their ways over life’s many hurdles together, they find comfort (and a fair amount of verbal ribbing) in one another.