Nostalgia is the first emotion elicited by "Driving Miss Daisy"-- nostalgia for the play's period, the post-World War II years up through the civil-rights era, and for the 1987 play itself.
Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning work pointedly and touchingly looks at race relations in the South by focusing on one well-to-do elderly Jewish widow and one slightly less elderly black man.
Through their interactions over 25 years the playwright delicately reveals the prejudices, blind spots and humanity representative of many Americans, yet particular to these two people.
Boolie Werthan, a middle-aged Atlanta businessman, insists on hiring a chauffeur for his 72-year-old mother, Daisy. She's a tough and independent woman, but no longer a safe driver.
Hoke Coleburn comes as a godsend -- he's polite, he's steady and he has great references. Daisy is hostile toward him, but he waits her out, eventually winning the opportunity to carry her down to the Piggly Wiggly, patiently enduring her backseat driving all the way.
Thus begins a relationship that ranges over issues of race and respect, friendship and help.
Hoke drives Daisy to temple for services; she teaches him to read. She sometimes treats him as less than a full adult; he never lets her get away with that. Uhry shows us the humanity of both these people as they live through their moment in history and their own learning process about each other.
There are three plum roles here, and three fine actors who eat them up.
Joy Williams is a marvelous Daisy, showing her intelligence and crotchetiness, and expertly embodying the condensed aging process.
Jim Bynum inhabits Hoke fully, giving us his dignity, his warmth and his humor.
And in the smaller but key role of Boolie, Garet Chester is the mirror for both of them, the Jewish businessman trying to live in the biased South where he was raised, making choices that imperfectly balance pragmatism and morality.
Joe Pabst directs with an emphasis on the comedy, but he doesn't short-change the serious moments at all.
Sue Griffin's costumes hit the era precisely, and Bennett Fidlow's lighting works well on the divided set designed by Amy Bale and Terrie Powers.
However, one of the sliding platforms malfunctioned at the conclusion of the opening night performance, marring what would have been a poignant moment. Presumably, that problem will be corrected for the remainder of the run.
Susan Haubenstock is a freelance writer and editor based in Henrico County. Contact her at shaubenstock@gmail.com.
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