DRIVING MISS DAISY
DRIVING MISS DAISY by Alfred Uhry; Directed by Cris Cassell. Ross Valley Players (RVP) Barn Theatre, Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. at Lagunitas, Ross, CA. 415-456-9555 or www.rossvalleyplayers.com. Through
(Photo by Kim Taylor: Anne Riley as Miss Daisy and Breton Bruno as Hoke)
In 1987, after a modest start in a 74-seat Off-Off Broadway theatre, Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy with Morgan Freeman and Dana Ivey, moved to the much larger John Houseman Theatre earning rave reviews and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Within 18 months, the play was adapted for film winning the Best Picture Oscar with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke and Jessica Tandy giving an Oscar winning performance as Miss Daisy. It also earned Freeman a Best Actor nomination.
When the theater lights go out, we hear the sound effects of a racing car motor and a tremendous crash. It is 1948, Miss Daisy (Anne Riley), a 72-year old widow living in
Although the story line plays out over milestones of black/white Southern history, the emphasis is on character development between two disparate individuals separated by skin color and religious differences. History remains in the background. Both are products of societies bathed with intolerance. Hoke’s pointed reference to the distinction between whites and white Jews matches Miss Daisy’s vocal declarations to Boolie that Blacks are untrustworthy and devious. It is a journey that begins in misunderstanding, progresses to interdependence and ends in true friendship.
Things start well, and Cris Caswell’s production flows very smoothly on Ken Rowland’s effective utilitarian set aided by superb musical bridges (sound design by Billie Cox) that evoke the period from 1948 to the 70s, as well covering the costume and 20+ scene changes. The car(s), placed unobtrusively upstage, slides effortlessly down stage as our minds try to guess the name of music being played.
The play is really a two-hander and the part of Bollie, played very adroitly by Allen Shafer (with an occasional off beat Southern accent), is there as an intermediary, acting as a sounding board, filling in the time gaps and arbitrating problems between Miss Daisy and Hoke. The roles of the major characters offer great challenges since they must emotionally and physically evolve as they age. Septuagenarian Riley has the physical looks for the part but there is no real change in her demeanor from scene one on. In the early scenes, there should be a feisty attitude with sparks while confronting Bollie or Hoke and that attitude should mellow with time as her physical demeanor deteriorates.
Bretron Bruno is an ultimate professional with a background as writer, director actor and founder of Pathlight Productions in the Bayview-Hunters Point area in
The recommendation for this 90-minute warm-hearted, humorous and affecting play is that it is worth the drive to the Barn Theatre.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine