LOCAL PRODUCTION OF 'DRIVING MISS DAISY' HITS HOME (REVIEW)

A wealthy and fussy Jewish woman upset because she is getting too old to drive and the illiterate black man her son hires to be her chauffeur, Daisy Werthan and Hoke Coleburn are not natural friends in the post-WWII South. They spat about most everything, and her unconscious racism percolates to the surface at times. But through a relationship that lasts 25 years, Hoke and Miss Daisy develop one of the stage's memorable friendships.

The River City Players production of "Driving Miss Daisy" opens tonight at the Port Cape Girardeau River City Yacht Club. Performances continue Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday and Feb. 16 and 17. Dinner is at 7 p.m. with the show following at 8. The performance-only show Thursday will begin at 7 p.m.

In the 1989 movie version of "Driving Miss Daisy," the staggeringly talented ensemble of Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman and Dan Ackroyd cooked up an Academy Award winner. The movie, which was based on a stage play, makes its points about race and friendship without hitting anyone over the head. Some scenes amuse, others touch.

The same is true in the RCP production, in which Daisy (Elaine Carlson), Hoke (Lloyd Williams) and Boolie Werthan (Randy Barnhouse) combine to deliver the play's warm humor and more plangent moments.

When Boolie wonders whether Hoke can handle his mother, Hoke answers that he used to wrestle hogs "and not one of them got away." Much later in the play, she tries to get him to come to a Martin Luther King banquet with her without seeming to invite him.

"Things are changing," Hoke growls, "but they ain't changed that much."

The RCP production directed by Ann Swanson has 19 scenes, so the test for the cast and the stage crew (Jeff Quigley) is to keep things moving. Some scenes last only a minute or so.

Carlson is feisty as Miss Daisy, Williams carries himself with a Buddha-like dignity as Hoke, and Barnhouse makes Boolie appealing, even when he fears being identified as "Martin Luther King Worthen." All three have appeared in previous RCP productions, with Barnhouse winning last year's Abbott Award as Best Supporting Actor.

When Miss Daisy's temple gets blown up, Hoke recalls as a boy seeing his friend's father lynched. Miss Daisy and Hoke eventually discover that a Jewish woman and a black man have all too much in common.