Driving Miss Daisy

      

      The production of "Driving Miss Daisy," by Alfred Uhry,  at the Wyndham Theatre was fantastic!  I was unfamiliar with the play before seeing it but was still excited to see such well-known actors as Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones perform in person.  James Earl Jones played Hoke, a black man hired by Miss. Daisy's son because she's too old to drive.  The script follows their relationship over a long span of time.  Although the isolated plot line is rather uneventful, from the selected conversations between Miss Daisy and Hoke, and the actors' great chemistry, they clearly have a deep friendship that progresses.  The audience is shown a selection of conversations between them over 20-30 years with topics ranging from race, class and religion, to petty arguments about directions.  In one instance, Hoke refuses to drive Miss Daisy to her synogogue because it had been bombed, even though Miss Daisy is in denial and insists; he sympathizes with her pain and references his own encounters with discrimination.  In one of their more petty conversations, Miss Diasy gets incredibly aggravated with Hoke because he is going a different, faster route to the Piggly Wiggly market. 

      From seeing this production, I got the impression that both James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave give incredibly original performances; consequently, if I saw the production again, I'm sure there would be many noticeable differences in their acting.  Both actors took their time to deliver lines and included gestures and inventive pause.  In one instance, Miss Diasy is convinced Hoke stole her can of salmon and wants to confront him because she is sure he'll deny it; her son, however, would rather not fire him and wants to discuss the issue more diplomatically.  As Hoke entered the room with Miss Daisy and her son, she dramatically holds up the empty fish can as if she caught him red-handed.  Hoke, however, had a full can in his coat to replace it with; Embarrassed to have doubted his honesty, Miss Daisy passes off her gesture as a dance move or stretch of some sort, leaving the audience in hysterics.  In addition, both actors appeared elderly and slow-moving during scene changes and at the end of the show when they bowed; this consistency of character made the characters seem incredibly genuine.

       The set was simple but realistic.  Because Miss Daisy is an older lady, many of the scenes take place in the car or her home.  There were two tracks on the stage that could bring in the kitchen table and the 'car.'  The car was made up of a wheel, a chair and a bench; the skillful manner in which Hoke maneuvered it made the vehicle seem realistic.  The kitchen was equally as simple; similarly, the way in which Miss Daisy made use of the space, especially in the opening scene where she makes a custard pie, makes it appear realistic.  Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed "Driving Miss Daisy."  The script was a good story but the actors' skill level and evident experience made it come to life;  in looking up the production, I found out that James Earl Jones was presented an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement on the November 12th showing of Driving Miss Daisy here in London.  From what I've seen, he couldn't be more deserving!