THEATRE ROYAL BATH PRODUCTIONS presentsDAME SIÂN PHILLIPS AND DEREK GRIFFITHS STAR IN DRIVING MISS DAISY
This brand new production of Pulitzer Prize, Academy and Tony Award winning playwright Alfred Uhry’s acclaimed comedy drama, marking 30 years since the play first premiered, comes to Richmond Theatre Mon 11 – Sat 16 September, 2017. From its landmark off-Broadway production in 1987 to the remarkable success of the 1989 film version, which was the winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture,Driving Miss Daisy has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Press invitations for review are extended for the opening night performance on Monday 11 Sep at 7.30pm
Starring Dame Siân Phillips as Daisy and Derek Griffiths as Hoke with direction by Richard Beecham. When elderly widow Daisy Werthan crashes her car one day in 1948, her son hires her a chauffeur, an African-American named Hoke Colburn. Daisy and Hoke’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, but as times change across a 25 year backdrop of prejudice, inequality and civil unrest, a profound and life-altering friendship blossoms in this acclaimed comedy drama.
Dame Siân Phillips has enjoyed a dazzling career which spans more than seven decades – from her multi award-wining performance in I, Claudius to the epic film Dune, from a Tony nominated performance ofMarlene on Broadway to Cabaret in the West End.
RSC actor and legendary presenter, Derek Griffiths’ numerous West End credits include the original production of Beauty and the Beast in which he originated the role of Lumière and the Child Catcher in the West End run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium.
Alfred Uhry is one of the few writers to have earned Academy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize awards as a playwright and screenwriter. Having based the story of Driving Miss Daisy on his own family history, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1988. His adaptation of the screenplay went on to win an Oscar in 1989.