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A journey through troubled times
The odd couple: Hoke, played by the splendid Don Warrington, growing old with Daisy, played by Gwen Taylor. Pictures: Nicholas Dawkes Driving Miss Daisy Wolverhampton Grand *** THIS play is held in high regard by
actors because of the challenge it offers in two regards. First, the two lead characters age 25 years in 90
minutes, second, the play is performed as a three hander, further
intensifying the performing demands (whilst reducing production costs!). Fortunately the cast are well up to the task.
Daisy is played by Gwen Taylor, her driver Hoke by Don Warrington. Gwen Taylor has most recently been in the public
eye as Anne Foster in Coronation St, but her career defining role was in
the fabulous television comedy Duty Free as Amy Pearce. Don Warrington found recognition for his role as
Phil Smith in Rising Damp. Driving Miss Daisy is a
Pullitzer prize winner , yet its strength lies in the opportunities it
offers for the actors to act, rather than its profound script. Pre Black Civil Rights America is the back cloth
to most of the story. Rather than make this an “issue” play, author
Arthur Uhry neatly sidesteps the big questions to instead make it a play
about personality and relationships, how they juxtapose, jostle and
settle. So the play is not quite as it seems, this is no
polemic on racial equality, instead a slight affectionate exploration of
two contrasting characters into old age, and it is in this way that the
play works. The history of race relations in America is quite
different in England to the deep south of the United States creating
potential for the political dimension to travel poorly in a multi-racial
community like Wolverhampton. But the focus on character, rather than
action, sometimes to a fault, steers it clear of local bear–traps. Taylor touchingly plays out the gradual decline
of old age. Her head sinks turtle-like into her shoulders, her
movement becomes fragile- uncertainly precise, and her voice develops a
reedy thinness. Yet, although her physical powers are in retreat her
spirit is not. The set is initially disconcertingly simple,
comprising a staircase and bookcase on one side, a desk moving in and
out of centre stage, and a bench on a small revolve which, when matched
with a couple of chairs and a steering wheel, becomes whatever car Miss
Daisy is being driven around in by Hoke. It is a back projection screen
which creates the sense of time and place using archive news footage to
good effect. Ian Porter has the tricky task of playing Boolie,
a ruthless businessman and Miss Daisy's slightly unsympathetic son. The
role is awkward because it is an integral part of the journey that
unfolds, but dramatically, can unbalance the chemistry created between
the two leads. In this production, director David Esbjornson allows
Boolie a more strident presence in a bold move. A core message that skin and background may
divide, but the power of the human spirit unites, is the feel-good
engine of the play, along with American schmaltz which teeters just the
right side of good taste, garnished with humour that Gwen Taylor clearly
revels in. As an essay on growing old, it takes some
beating. Touring plays have a tough time finding theatres prepared to
take a chance against the mass appeal of musicals. It is to the credit
of the Grand that they brought this production to Wolverhampton and to
Julian Stoneman Associates that they brought the production to the Black
Country. To 13-04-13. Gary Londen
**** THIS heart-warming play by Alfred Uhry has won
many friends during its UK tour, and Black Country theatre goers are
seeing just why it's been so popular before the journey ends in
Wolverhampton this week. Although it is set in Atlanta, Georgia, when
civil rights and prejudice were high on the agenda, the story is not a
lesson in racial equality even though the central figures are a white
Jewish widow and her poor African American chauffeur. During the 90-minutes of action, with no
interval, the audience are treated to a fascinating insight into how
wealthy 72-year-old Daisy Werthan at first resents her businessman son
insisting she is not fit to drive herself any more following an
accident. Gwen Taylor, who recently played Anne Foster in
Coronation Street, is a delight as the prickly Miss Daisy, not
prejudiced but giving chauffeur Hoke Coleburn a hard time at first,
though as their relationship over more than 20 years develops there is a
touching scene where she pats him gently on the hand and admits: "Hoke,
your are my best friend". A superb performance, too, from Don Warrington
(Philip Smith in Rising Damp) who is so convincing in the role of kindly
Hoke, a veteran driver quite able to fight his own corner after being
appointed by Daisy's son, Boolie (Ian Porter). The set is simple but effective, with the car
created by a wooden bench on a revolving section of the stage, a single
chair for the driver and a steering wheel and column, with moving film
of the areas the couple drive through projected at the rear. To 13.04.13 Paul Marston
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