DRIVING MISS DAISY
play program

On a Friday evening, The Travelling Toe with 2 Dear Friends, attended the evening performance of "Driving Miss Daisy" at the Artisan Center Theater.

Artisan Center Theater

Artisan Center Theater


The play was written by Alfred Uhry.  The first performance off Broadway, was  
April 15, 1987. The cast was Dana Ivey, Morgan Freeman and Ray Gill. 

Alfred Uhry
playwright

A synopsis of the play courtesy of Wikipedia is as follows:

Driving Miss Daisy is a play by American playwright Alfred Uhry, about the relationship of an elderly white Southern Jewish woman, Daisy Werthan, and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Colburn, from 1948 to 1973. 

The time: 1948, the place: Atlanta, Georgia. A crash is heard, and Daisy Werthan, age 72, is in her living room, with her son Boolie, age 40. They are Jewish, with Atlanta accents. She has crashed her car, and Boolie insists that she have a driver. Boolie is in his office and interviews Hoke Coleburn who is a black man of around 60. He is unemployed. Over the next 25 years Hoke drives "Miss Daisy". They are initially wary of each other, and Hoke puts up with the somewhat crotchety Miss Daisy with dignity. She teaches Hoke to read, having been a teacher. Ultimately, they form a friendly bond, with Miss Daisy inviting Hoke to accompany her to a dinner for Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hoke visits Miss Daisy, now age 97, in a nursing home, seeing her for one final time.

CAST:

Dorothy Sanders      

                Daisy Werthan

Sean Massey

                 Hoke Coleburn

Gary E Payne

                Boolie Werthan

What a wonderful play this was to see in a small theater setting.  All three of the actors were exceptional in their respective roles.. Yes, The Travelling Toe did see the the movie way back in 1989, but the stage play is so much more enjoyable.  The one liners are so funny but also heartbreaking at times such as when Daisey tells Hoke he is her best friend.

If the stage play comes your way do go see it, you won't be disappointed!