Bob Devin Jones and Ann Morrison star in the Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize winning new classic, “Driving Miss Daisy,” running through April 18 at American Stage Theatre Company.
Director T. Scott Wooten helms a captivating new production of “Driving Miss Daisy,” competently transporting audiences to the mid 20th century and examining issues that remain topical today.
“Driving Miss Daisy,” by Alfred Uhry, runs through April 18, at American Stage Theatre Company’s Raymond James Theatre, 163 Third St. N.
Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize, “Driving Miss Daisy” offers a message that resonates with anyone who has dealt with an aging parent and the associated matters that have euphemistically come to be called “end-of-life issues.”
Set in Georgia between 1948 and 1973, the play also offers a compelling case study of race relations during that turbulent time in American history. It is filled with bright, witty dialogue and punctuated by poignant, sentimental scenes.
The play focuses on the relationship of a comparatively wealthy, curt Jewish widow and the African-American chauffeur her son hires after she wrecks the family car. Scenes play out over the course of 25 years and depict the evolution of the pair’s remarkable friendship – as well as the gradual deterioration of Daisy’s faculties.
It is, in fact, the second American Stage production in 10 months involving aging and the inevitable decline in health.
In last summer’s “Tuesdays with Morrie,” Michael Edwards delivered an emotional and strikingly credible portrayal of a man succumbing to a debilitating disease in a story about life’s inexorable progress and grief.
In “Driving Miss Daisy,” it is Ann Morrison who depicts Daisy Werthan’s begrudging advance into old age, characterizing the transformation through subtle changes of posture and mannerisms. Morrison deftly illustrates the production’s passage of time through her insightful performance.
On stage, Morrison, who has appeared previously at American Stage in “On the Verge,” “Noel and Gertie” and “The New Century,” achieves through her superb acting skills the kind of realism that many Hollywood stars can only portray through makeup or computer-generated imagery.
Morrison is so thoroughly absorbed in the character that even when the lights dim between scenes, she can be seen shambling off stage at a snail’s pace as if burdened by a host of aches and pains.
Bob Devin Jones plays Daisy’s chauffeur, Hoke Colburn. Hoke – who is no spring chicken – must sidestep Daisy’s sarcastic barbs and forge first a professional relationship and, later, a friendship.
Jones trained at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
Like Morrison, Jones is inside of his character and hearing him verbalize Uhry’s lines is engrossing. Jones’ timing is flawless, whether he’s engaged in a gentle tête-à-tête with Daisy or conducting salary negotiations with her son, Boolie Werthan.
Steve Garland fills Boolie’s shoes. Daisy’s son is career-minded, building a successful business and eagerly ascending the ladder in terms of social status. Garland plays the character smoothly, balancing Boolie’s aggressive industriousness with his sincere concern for his mother.
Tom Hansen’s set design is low-key and well suited to the theater. The car in which a good portion of the play transpires is no more than two upholstered benches. Kate Bashore’s magical lighting design complements the set.
A key to the success of this production is the fact that the actors resist overshadowing their costars. Morrison and Jones, in particular, do not allow their portrayal of the individual characters to eclipse the delineation of the bond that forms between them. Such self-sacrificing stagecraft distinguishes American Stage Theatre’s production of “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Performances are Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Matinees are Saturday and Sunday, 3 p.m. Tickets start at $26. Call 823-7529 or visit americanstage.org.
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