The Summer of Daisy Fay
By Ed Howard
Directed by Anthony Whitaker
Based on the novel Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man
by Fannie Flagg
Produced by new American Folk Theatre
in association with Redtwist Theatre
At Redtwist Theatre
One person show almost works
Charlie Irving bravely tackles a one person memory play about a young woman who grows up in a rural Mississippi towns in 1958 in The Summer of Daisy Fay. Daisy has a cute, self-depreciating sense of humor, and is blatantly honest. She has a zest for life as she strives to get along by appreciating each person as unique and humorous. We quickly learn to love Daisy as she reminisces about events in her early teen years that led to her defining event -her participation in the Miss Mississippi Pageant
This 90 minute solo show has its moments, as Ed Howard’s script captures the truthfulness and funny events from Fannie Flagg’s novel. I wanted to enjoy this show. Charlie Irving is a perky, high energy actress with a winning smile and a convincing manner. Charlie has the deep Southern accent down pat, but her performance the night I caught the show (which was the 5th performance since the opening) contained many flubbed lines and false starts. Charlie swallowed several punch line while mumbling at times and often raced through her lines speaking much too fast. Deep Southern folks tend to speak slowly and deliberately.
When Charlie was eloquent with proper pauses she was heartfelt and often hilarious. But she seemed under rehearsed. Hopefully, she’ll get more consistent and return to the form that she must have had on opening night when the Jeff Committee recommended the show. I kept quietly rooting for her her and I enjoyed her finer moments. Hopefully she’ll get better as the run continues. As an off-night show it is work seeing.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2015
For more info checkout The Summer of Daisy Fay page at theatreinchicago.com
At Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago, IL, call 773-426-6442