By Bridgette M. Redman
Nancy Elizabeth Kammer and James Bowen in "Driving Miss Daisy." Photo: Performance Network Theatre
"Driving Miss Daisy" by Alfred Uhry can seem like a simple play. It needs three actors, three set pieces, and few costume changes. The script is straightforward, only 90 minutes long, and is performed without an intermission. Its needs are seemingly few.
Yet, it takes more than those things to bring out the magic in this story. It takes three actors committed to their craft and able to connect and disconnect at crucial moments. It takes a set that can work unobtrusively in simple yet complex ways. It takes a love for the characters, the words and the story.
Performance Network, in its opening production of a season that almost wasn't, finds this love, and they make the magic of "Driving Miss Daisy" happen. This production teases, charms and tantalizes. It makes the most of every moment, and shows in an almost palpable manner how a relationship grows from hostility to love.
Initial kudos go, of course, to the three actors who bring the characters of Miss Daisy, Boolie and Hoke to life. The experienced team of Nancy Elizabeth Kammer, James Bowen and Bryan Lark tell the story of an older, fiercely independent woman who can no longer drive. Her son, Boolie, hires Hoke, and for 25 years, he becomes her chauffeur.
The play begins in 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia. She is Jewish, he is "colored." She is rich, he has been out of work for nearly a year. They have little in common except that they are on the fringes of Atlanta society, neither fully accepted by white Christians. Add to the mix that she doesn't want a driver. Her son hires Hoke and he must go about the process of convincing her to accept his services.
Kammer readily takes on the challenge of presenting a difficult, often-cranky woman that the audience can still love. Kammer instills Daisy with a dignity and a vulnerability in equal parts. She portrays a history, a woman whose background is ever present in her current choices. Kammer's Daisy is strong-willed, but able to show moments of pain and fear without it ever seeming inconsistent.
Bowen brings a full performance to the part of Hoke. He makes strong choices in body language, facial expressions, inflection and movement. He makes each line work, charming not just Daisy, but all of the audience. He isn't, as he tells Daisy later in the play, just the back of a neck that drives her about. He is a fully fleshed out person, and Bowen embodies Hoke from start to finish. He never plays a stereotype, but he shows the life of an African-American in this tumultuous period of 1948-1973.
Both actors have scenes where they tug at the heart, revealing in an expression or a pause how very much they are moved or affected by events taking place around them, whether it is a gift or the violent act of bigots.
It can be easy to overlook the character of Boolie, as the story truly is that of the blossoming relationship between Daisy and Hoke. However, Lark is fully the equal of the two giants he shares the stage with. His Boolie is filled with energy, and he embodies the Southern charm of an Atlanta businessman. Boolie clearly loves his mother, and he immediately sees the good in Hoke. Lark counter-balances some of the more serious scenes by giving Boolie a constant good humor and optimism.
Director John Manfredi chose to put two of his crew into work clothes rather than theater black and enter the stage as if they were part of the scene. Eric Hohnke and Cynthia Szczesny interact tenderly with Daisy, helping her up and down as they move the car and other set pieces around. Their presence seems natural and makes the scene changes move with grace and speed.
Manfredi was also in charge of the set design and created a beautiful triptych with the realistic painting of a house on each panel. The interior set pieces were kept simple, as were Michelle Raymond's properties. They provided what was needed, but not so much that it would get in the way or interfere with the telling of the story.
Suzi Regan created a sound track that assisted in the smooth scene changes, set the mood and contributed to the story telling.
Together, the team of actors, designers and crew created the magic that takes "Driving Miss Daisy" from a simple story to something intensely moving and memorable.
REVIEW:
'Driving Miss Daisy'
Performance Network Theatre
120 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24
3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, 18, 25
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25
2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26
1 hour, 25 minutes
$27-41
734-663-0681
http://www.pntheatre.org
