BWW Reviews: DRIVING MISS DAISY from Mel O'Drama Theater

Alfred Uhry is a wonderful writer who perfectly captures the tone and cadence of the Southern accent, infusing his works for the theater with a pervasive appreciation and respect for his native region. Among contemporary Southern playwrights, he is in the upper echelons, creating compelling stories about interesting people in a way that audiences the world over can find accessible.

His now-classic Driving Miss Daisy is a three-person story of the day-to-day interactions of an aging Atlanta Jewish widow, the African-American man who comes to work for her as a chauffeur and her long-suffering son who serves as his mother's retainer and provides the audience with a conduit into the intimate relationship of Miss Daisy and Hoke Colburn. It's an eloquently written script in which the action takes on a gentle tone - reflective of the spirit of his characters - that grows in intensity as the relationships of his richly crafted characters deepen, becoming more resonant in the process.

While The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Uhry's thoughtful recollection of Atlanta's upper crust Jewish society at the time of the film premiere of Gone With the Wind) and Parade (the musical based upon the true story of the arrest and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager in Atlanta, upon which he collaborated with Jason Robert Browne) might be viewed as being wider in scope and portent, Driving Miss Daisy probably tells a story that is more universally accessible and, truth be told, beloved by audiences.

That makes Driving Miss Daisy a good choice for Mel O'Drama Theatre, which toured its production to smaller venues in Middle Tennessee during late spring, culminating in a run-ending two-performance run in White House. Directed by Rusty Riddle and starring Francine Berk as Miss Daisy, Shawn Whitsell as Hoke Colburn and Raymon Whitt as Boolie Werthan, it's a story that touches Middle Tennessee theater audiences on various levels. In so many ways, we've all known a Miss Daisy and Hoke of our own and the vernacular in which they communicate is our very own.

Berk takes on the role of "Miss Daisy" Werthan with a skillful grace, delighting us with her sometimes brash outspokenness and kind-hearted demeanor - putting us in mind of a steel magnolia, if you will. While Berk's performance is confident throughout, she is perhaps most successful during the scenes in which Miss Daisy nears the end of her life. Reminding me so much of my own Aunt Alta (who was spry and feisty all the way up to her death at 103), Berk captured the heart and soul of the character she was playing, evoking long-held personal memories that undoubtedly were shared by most of those in her audience.

Whitsell, one of the busiest men in theater anywhere, gives a finely crafted portrayal of Hoke, aging gradually but convincingly over the course of time covered in the play's action. Whitsell's delivery of Uhry's lines is impressive and heartfelt, displaying his assured way with a well-written character in whom he invests more than a little of his own winning personality. His charming interactions with Berk's Miss Daisy win the audience over from the very start.

Whitt completes the three-person cast, playing Boolie Werthan with a helping of self-assured charm and businesslike matter-of-factness. Whitt, who in many ways serves as a chorus of sorts to move the play's action along and to help us determine the time frame for the various scenes, makes the most of his time onstage, displaying range and presence along the way.

While transitions from one scene to the next seemed rather clumsily realized, the play's action still played out at an acceptable pace. The play's scenic design, which goes uncredited in the show's playbill, was a bit overdone and the entire production could have benefitted from a more elegantly spare visual design aesthetic.

- Driving Miss Daisy. By Alfred Uhry. Directed by Rusty Riddle. Presented by Mel O'Drama Theater. For further details about the company, visit the website at www.melodramatheater.org.

 

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