King's Theatre,
Edinburgh
4 stars
When Alfred Uhry's
quietly political play first appeared in 1987, the idea of America
voting in a black President at all, let alone for a second term, was
a long way off. A quarter of a century on, Uhry's intimate story of
the increasingly co-dependent relationship between an elderly
Georgian matriarch and her chauffeur during the civil rights years is
a necessary reminder of how far things have come. More importantly,
perhaps, than the back projections of Martin Luther King and other
protesters from the era in director David Esbjornson's touring
production, Uhry has sketched a warm and human story about
friendship, ageing and mortality.
It opens in 1948, with
banker Boolie Werthan attempting to hire a chauffeur for his mother,
the cantankerous seventy-two year old of the play's title, who has
just crashed her own car for the final time. At first resistant to
her new employee, Miss Daisy's initial suspicions and in-grained
prejudices eventually give way to the wily charms of Hoke Coleburn.
The world is changing, and Daisy even teaches Hoke to read.
At just ninety minutes
long without an interval, Uhry has constructed what at first appears
to be a sliver of a play. Yet there is so much heart and understated
warmth knitted throughout that it's depths eventually shine through.
Much of this is down to the playing, and here audiences are blessed
with an exquisite pairing of Gwen Taylor as Miss Daisy and Don
Warrington as Hoke, with Ian Porter lending support as Boolie. The
final image of Hoke spoon-feeding Miss Daisy in a care home in 1972
suggests the pair are growing old gracefully, equals at last.
The Herald, March 7th 2013
ends
Comments