The Wine Cellar Readers' Theater

Presents

DRIVING MISS DAISY

A Play By Alfred Uhrey

 

Produced by Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance,

Playwright in Residence Eugene Lee and Professor Sandra Mayo

in collaboration with

the Wine Cellar Bistro and Boutique

 

Presented Sunday, July 26, at The Wine Cellar in Downtown San Marcos

4:00 - 6:30 pm

Light Hors d' Oeuvres To Be Served

------------SORRY, SOLD OUT!---------------

Main Characters

Hoke Coleburn - Chauffer
Miss Daisy Werthan - Jewish Widow

Boolie Werthan - Daisy's Son

Plot summary

Driving Miss Daisy is a one Act play by Alfred Uhry. The Pulitzer Prize winning drama takes place mostly in Atlanta, Georgia from 1948 to 1973. Only three characters appear on stage. Daisy Werthan is a Jewish widow who is portrayed from age 72 until 97. Her chauffer, Hoke Coleburn, is a black man who ages from 60 to 85. The third character, Boolie Werthan, is Daisy's son. He is 40 years old when the play opens. Although this is a one act play, the action shifts frequently as the characters are seen changing over the course of 25 years.

Driving Miss Daisy covers the twenty-five year relationship between this wealthy, strong-willed Southern matron and her equally indomitable Black chauffeur Hoke. Both employer and employee are outsiders, Hoke because of the color of his skin, Miss Daisy because she is Jewish in a WASP-dominated society. While, Hoke cannot fathom Miss Daisy's cloistered inability to grasp the social changes which sweep the South in the 1960s, Miss Daisy understand why Hoke's "people" are so indignant. It is only when Hoke is retired and Miss Daisy is confined to a home for the elderly that the two fully realize that they've been friends and kindred spirits all along.

Driving Miss Daisy manages to be profound, subtle, and insightful while on the surface seeming only a simple and amusing story. The events of the changing times of the 1950s and 1960s are seen obliquely through the prism of the two main characters, Hoke and Daisy. The foremost issue is aging, as both of them are approaching their twilight years, with Hoke about a decade younger. The ravages of time take their toll in a slow but inevitable process on them both. The signals of the passing years are marked by the almost imperceptible decline in their interests and abilities from scene to scene.

This is a free event, however because of limited seating, reservations are required. Call 512-805-9463, or on-line at www.winecellartexas.com for reservations.

Dinner reservations will also be accepted for following the play.

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