Anacostia Playhouse presents Driving Miss Daisy
Directed by Ella Davis 

(Washington, DC) The Anacostia Playhouse presents  Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry

It’s the deep south in 1948 and Daisy Werthan has just demolished another car.  Over her protestations, her son Boolie has hired Hoke Coleburn, a black man, to be her chauffeur. So begins a 25-year relationship that starts with distrust at the dawn of the civil rights era, but through the years grows into a loving interdependence neither could have predicted (or admit to).

ABOUT ALFRED UHRY

Alfred Uhry was born on December 12, 1936, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was he first playwright to win the Tony, the Oscar, and the Pulitzer Prize. An early collaboration with Robert Waldman was the 1968 musical Here's Where I Belong, which closed after one performance (and 20 previews) on Broadway. They had considerably better success with TheRobber Bridegroom, which premiered on Broadway in both 1975 and 1976, had a year-long national tour, and garnered Uhry his first Tony Award nomination, for best book of a musical in 1976. America's Sweetheart,with music by Robert Waldman and with the book co-written by Uhry with John Weidman, ran at the Hartford Stage, in March 1985 to April 1985, and then at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami, Florida, where it closed. The Robber Bridegroomwas revived Off-Broadway in March 2016 at the Roundabout Theatre Company. This production won three Lucille Lortel Awards.  

Atlanta Trilogy

Driving Miss Daisy(1987) is the first in what is known as his "Atlanta Trilogy" of plays, all set during the first half of the 20th century. Produced Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, the play earned him the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It deals with the relationship between an elderly Jewish woman and her black chauffeur. He adapted it into the screenplay for a 1989 film starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman, an adaptation which was awarded the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, in addition to the Academy Award for Tandy as best actress. The second of the trilogy, The Last Night of Ballyhoo(1996), is set in 1939 during the premiere of the film Gone with the Wind. It deals with a Jewish family during an important social event. It received the Tony Award for Best Play when produced on Broadway in 1997. 

The third is the 1998 musical Parade, about the 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank. The libretto earned him a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. The music was written by Jason Robert Brown. 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Ella Davis, co-founder and executive director for All About the Drama Theatre Group (AATD),completed her studies at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, in Washington, DC, where she studied the full gamut of theater, acting, singing, dance, directing, stage craft, and stage management.  AATD has been moving forward with its mission to provide an effective tool for our nation's young men and women committed to enriching the awareness of some of our rich heritage through drama by capturing the essence of alternative performance styles raised in urban life.  Ella has directed the well-received and Helen Hayes Recommended Happy Endingby Douglas Turner Ward at the Anacostia Playhouse this past summer. She has produced and stage managed a host of community projects written by local community playwrights. Ella is currently the chair of the Anacostia Playhouse board of directors.

 

ON STAGE

Hoke Coleburn                    James Foster, Jr.

Daisy Werthan                   Adele Robey

Boolie                                       Matty Griffiths

 

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION STAFF                                

Set Design: Emily Lotz

Lighting Design: John Alexander

Costume Design: Nora Dahlberg

Projection & Sound Designer:  Tewodross Melchishua Williams

Stage Manager:Xemiyulu Manibusan Tapepechul

 

ABOUT THE ANACOSTIA PLAYHOUSE

As the successor to the H Street Playhouse, the Anacostia Playhouse’s mission has been to bring access to the arts to an area of Washington that has been traditionally underserved in all respects, especially the arts. The intent is not just to make theater available as an audience experience, but to create a space for making art. At the Playhouse we support emerging artists, especially those from the east of the river communities, with access to space to present their works; we involve community members in the making of theater; and we introduce youth to the benefits of the discipline of theater. As a both a presenting and producing organization we strive to have work in our space that addresses topics that spark conversations among different populations.

                                                                  

MEDIA

To engage with Anacostia Playhouse and follow Driving Miss Daisy please visit, follow and like:

www.anacostiaplayhouse.org

facebook.com/Anacostiaplayhouse

@AnacostiaPhouse

 

10 Performances only

 

Opening Night: Friday, December 14, 2018 8PM

 

Press Performances:

Saturday December 15, 2018 at 3PM & 8PM

Sunday December 16, 2018 at 3PM

 

Pay What You Can Preview: 

Thursday, December 13, 2018 at 8PM 

 

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets can be purchased at www.anacostiaplayhouse.org. Group discounts available and PWYC is available every show 30 minutes prior to curtain.