Driving Miss Daisy

There are some theatrical experiences when you know that you are seeing something unique, special, that will stay with you.  Well, Driving Miss Daisy with Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones was just such an experience.  We had had a busy day at Youth Libraries Group National Committee with lots of hard work and long deliberation which had left us all a bit jaded.  Will came and joined us – and several of us set off for a quick meal (tapas as it turned out) and some fizz and sangria so we left the restaurant feeling somewhat uplifted…

Wyndham’s Theatre is a delight of a wedding cake and very tall – but with excellent sight lines and a very flexible stage!  We gathered with our colleagues and went in to see this fantastic play by Alfred Uhry.  It’s a simple premise – an old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years, it’s touching, empathetic  and reflects a turbulent time in the growth of the civil rights movement in the US South.  But it was the performances that made this such a special event – Vanessa Redgrave, especially, aged before our eyes but so subtly that I was stunned to realize I had not seen it happen.  I watch enough good theatre (and have 2 actors in the family) you’d think I’d be more aware of how it was done but she was so subtle, so engaging and one cared for her so much that it was imperceptible.  A lovely, lovely experience.

All the more enjoyable after a very busy week, lots of networking (at the House of Lords, no less) and many long and involved meetings.  Be great to have a day at the home office next week and get straight again.