Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director s3

For Immediate Release: Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director Cotuit Center for the Arts Phone: (508) 428-0669 Email: [email protected] Website: ArtsOnTheCape.org

“Driving Miss Daisy” at Cotuit Center for the Arts’ Black Box Theater

Cotuit Center for the Arts presents “Driving Miss Daisy” by Alfred Uhry in the Black Box Theater Thursday, August 4, to Sunday, August 21. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 4 M. Steve Ross directs.

“Driving Miss Daisy” spans 25 years in the lives of two residents of Atlanta: Daisy Werthan, a wealthy Jewish widow, and Hoke Coleburn, an uneducated, unemployed African-American man who is hired as her chauffer by Daisy’s son Boolie after she wrecks her new car backing out of the driveway. At first, Daisy resents Hoke—she doesn’t want to be seen as “putting on airs” by having a driver, and she does not want to give up her independence.

But her attitude toward him changes over time, as we move from 1948 to 1973 and relationships between whites and African Americans begin to change. The somewhat crotchety Miss Daisy (72 at the beginning of the play) gets to know and appreciate the patient Hoke. The story is told with humor and warmth, yet it explores the volatile issues of racism and antisemitism in the South.

“Daisy Werthan is my all-time favorite role,” said Karen McPherson, who will be playing Miss Daisy. This will be her third performance in a full production of the show, in addition to last summer’s staged reading at Cotuit Center for the Arts’ 2nd Wednesday Theater. “The reading was well-attended and well-received,” said McPherson, “and I am delighted to be able to present the full show in Cotuit.”

McPherson grew up in Virginia and taught in an African-American school in South Carolina prior to desegregation. “I learned so much,” she said. “I was the first white person that the kids had ever been close to. A year later, I was a student in a college class that was all black. I realized we had such different responses to everyday events, and that we used language so differently. I had my own epiphanies, as does Miss Daisy, as she learns more about Hoke and makes a wonderful connection with him.”

Hoke, 60 when the play begins, is played by Adam Boaz. Hoke is a man of integrity and personal dignity despite his low economic status and lack of education. His patience and respect for Miss Daisy contributes to the growth of their unlikely friendship. “Adam grew up in North Carolina,” said McPherson, “so he has a personal understanding of relationships between blacks and whites in the South. While a lot has changed since the time of this play, we still have many bridges to cross.”

Boaz recently appeared as a mental patient in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at CCftA and as Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird” at Harwich Junior Theater.

Paul Schuyler is Boolie, Miss Daisy’s son, who relies on Hoke to help him look after his mother. “I am very pleased to have Paul in the play,” said McPherson. “We worked together in ‘Born Yesterday’ at Cape Rep Theater. He is extremely versatile, he understands characters, and he can find the humor in a situation, which is important. And he looks enough like me to play my son.”

McPherson has performed on Cape Cod stages since 1996. Most recently she directed “My Music and Me,” a one-man show by Glenn Starner-Tate, in the Black Box Theater at CCftA. She was a maiden in “Pirates of Penzance” and a cabin boy in “Moby-Dick—The Musical,” both at Cotuit, as well as several performances in the Black Box Theater. Other recent appearances have been in “The Game’s Afoot” at the Academy of Performing Arts, “Macbeth” at Cape Cod Community College, and “The Sea Captain’s Nutcracker” with Turning Pointe Dance Studio.

“Driving Miss Daisy” opened in 1987 in New York. Uhry received the Pulitzer Prize for the play in 1988. It was made into a movie in 1989, winning an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

Tickets are $18 $15 for members. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information, visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.

What: “Driving Miss Daisy,” by Alfred Uhry

Where: Black Box Theater, Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When: August 4 to 21, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 7:30 PM; Sunday, 4 PM

Admission: $18, $15 for members END