Driving Miss Daisy - Review

Driving Miss Daisy

Theatre Royal, Sydney

Reviewed by Benjamin Oxley

History. Even my kids had been impressed when they opened their envelopes to find tickets to Driving Miss Daisy. Would they still be rating this as a performance, or just be content with some marvellous screen memories?

The way it was pitched was: "Angela Lansbury sings Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast, and James Earl Jones voices Mufasa in The Lion King, and Darth Vader in Star Wars."

Opening night of Driving Miss Daisy was in the presence of greatness. No VIPs, glitterati or A-lister hipster in view. All the action was where it should be: onstage. 

David Esbjornson directed the three-hander with great pace, given it is about aging. The telephone sequences punctuated the bigger scenes - the cemetery, the road trip, the office interviews. Overlap in the scene changes kept us alert, asking much of the trio. 

There are performers, and then there are great performers. Angela Lansbury CBE, in her late 80's, last here in 1959, shows all her considerable character skills in Daisy. Dame Angela? Her irascible, dry wit gives way to anguish as she faces diminished quality of life. And yet it is the humanity of this Jewish Southerner who wins us with her school mistressy sensitivity. 

Central to the piece is the relationship between Daisy and Hoke, her driver, played with lumbering gentility by James Earl Jones. He is the veteran of the stage play, and is onstage for all of the 90 minutes. Gentleman take note: at 82, this is without bathroom breaks!

His famous bass voice touched the theatre's walls once or twice, but his portrayal is all empathy with Daisy. Once we see them together, we know we are witnessing theatre of such care. The squinting driver, reproving servant and Daisy's racial equal showed all facets of a dear friend. 

Boyd Gaines, as the intense son, a touch of Robert in Mother and Son, gives context and levity to the situation. As a performer, he is an acknowledged star, with stage, screen and voice credits. Like Miss Lansbury, he was awarded a Tony for his work in Gypsy. He is from Atlanta, where the play is set. 

In fact, if there is a common theme between them all, it is their success at playing for their colleagues. And it gave the audience good reason to show their appreciation at the curtain call with a standing ovation. So, open a door for someone, help ladies across the road, give old gentlemen a seat on the bus. They deserve our care.