*** A winning story line that swings between humour and heartache, and an entrancing script delivered by a superlative cast, has ensured that `Driving Miss Daisy' will be a winner for the Jabulani Repertory Theatre.

While undoubtedly chosen as a vehicle for the remarkable, 79-year old stage veteran Elsbeth Gibson, this first production of the winter season also proved to be a triumph for Danjou Anderson, who plays her patient, wise and necessarily good-humoured chauffeur.

Covering a time span that begins in 1948 and ends in the much changed Atlanta of 1973, Alfred Uhry's plot centres around the indomitable Daisy Werthan, an elegant Jewish lady who is anything but pleased to learn that her son Boolie -- horrified by his aging mother's latest fracas with her motor car -- has arranged for her to have a chauffeur.

The story that follows is one of astringent wit and increasing tenderness: "I will go on the trolley'', announces the stubborn Mrs. Werthan when she realises that the driver has become a fait accompli . Eventually, of course, she succumbs, climbing in the back row of two rows of chairs which constitute the car, and the first hint of her inherent kindness occurs when, tending her husband's grave in the cemetery, she realises that Hoke Coleburn has never learned to read. As a former teacher, she deals with this situation, even giving him an old textbook for Christmas, emphasising that it is not a Christmas gift. It is here that we see how these two disparate beings share one thing in common, both suffering to a certain degree, the indignities of living in what she calls `Episcopalian society'.

As the years pass, the wayward matron becomes ever more dependent on Hoke, who in turn cares for the increasingly fragile woman who has become his still occasionally testy friend rather than a somewhat miserly and sharp-tongued boss.

This part might have been written for Elsbeth Gibson. Eternally elegant and totally in command of the stage, she brings a life of experience to every line and to every gesture. All aspiring actors should make a point of seeing her in this role, to study her understated technique and exquisite sense of timing.

More of a surprise, perhaps, is the superb performance given by Danjou Anderson. His gutsy humour never leaves him, even as he pulls off a quite brilliant study in aging: his shoulders droop, his walk becomes more of a shuffle. Seeing this couple reach out to each other, mutual comforters now, and close companions, becomes a truly poignant experience -- never more so, as when, after she has been removed to a nursing home, her son takes Hoke to visit his mother for Thanksgiving. "He came to see me, not you,'' she sharply retorts, banishing Boolie from her presence so that they can enjoy a now all too rare chat together as her old friend gently feeds her morsels of the Thanksgiving pie.

The role of Boolie is a smaller role but Dal Tucker, who improves with every production and seems far more confident since his recent appearance in `Little Shop of Horrors', gave a very well thought-out performance. He must, by now, be quite accustomed to playing Jewish roles -- in any event, he was in full command of the accent.

With this show, Annette Hallett has consolidated her directorial experience.

With a a wonderfully responsive cast, she has extracted memorable performances from each of them, understanding the necessity to slightly underplay both the humour and the pathos, so that the characters never become stereotypical.

Through unusually simple sets and stage devices, she establishes a strong sense of place -- an America where, as the play opens, finds the civil rights movement tentatively gearing up for action. One of her logistical problems was the necessity of following the author's stringent stage directions. These call for a series of rather brief episodic scenes, conveying the passage of time through differing stage dressings -- to say nothing of 13 costume changes for Miss Gibson. Bearing in mind the limitations of the hotel stage and its lack of technical equipment, she has handled these with a minimum of fuss. It should perhaps be mentioned that, following an accident at the dress rehearsal, it was decided that the many scene changes could not safely be undertaken in `blackout' as would normally be the case.

Once again, Richard Klesnicks is responsible for some simple but evocative sets.

`Driving Miss Daisy' is a must-see for everyone who is remotely interested in Bermuda's theatre; even those who are not can be assured of a wonderfully entertaining evening.

PATRICIA CALNAN `Driving Miss Daisy' is being performed tonight, Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m.

nightly in the Gazebo Room of the Hamilton Princess Hotel.

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