By Alisha Hagey and Jason Hagey
Death of a Driver at Salt Lake Acting Company in Salt Lake City, Utah is about what connects and divides people. The play pushes you to question your own biases, your own beliefs about “how things should be,” and asks you to search for understanding and empathy for those who are very much unlike yourself. At the closing, when the lights fade, there are no answers to these questions. There are no easy conclusions.
“No one has a right to work in a place where their family doesn’t deal directly with the consequences of the work they do.” Said by Mahmood Mamdani, a college professor of the playwright, Will Snider, this seems to be at the crux of the dilemma. As SLAC says on their website: “Death of a Driver is a bracing examination of ‘doing good’ abroad, the limits of understanding another person, and what happens when personal and political obligations collide.”
In the plot, Sarah (Cassandra Stokes-Wylie*), an American engineer, moves to Kenya to build roads. She hires Kennedy (Patrick J. Ssenjovu*), an African taxi driver who quickly becomes both a trusted friend and her first employee. The political landscape lands him in jail, and we see the first questioning of loyalties and friendships between these two very different people. Worlds collide, and the complexities of the known and unknown become stark. Sarah doesn’t know Africa, but she knows how to build economic growth. Kennedy doesn’t know business, but he knows how to survive in a fractured Africa. The first scene begins with a visceral symbol of a dead goat that hints at what’s to come. The image will haunt you the entire runtime of the play.
Everyone feels real. The audience is transported directly to Kenya where we practically taste the beer that they are drinking and feel the heat of the sun on our backs. Stokes-Wylie beautifully captures the purpose-filled, all-business, flawed, and hopeful American. Stokes-Wylie’s portrayal is filled with nuances of compassion and anger, humor and seriousness that makes her character deep and believable. Ssenjovu could easily have been a caricature, but Ssenjovu captures a man of profound passions and intense ideas. He transports the audience, bringing us into his world through his mannerisms and intonations. Stokes-Wylie and Ssenjovu have instant chemistry, powerful presence, and incredible charisma. Their performance is the kind we often say, “I couldn’t imagine anybody else in the roles.”
Will Snider (playwright) creates a haunting world that feels more fact than fiction. His characters speak clearly as themselves, the situations are grounded, and he allows the audience to reach their conclusions. By the end, the audience doesn’t know Snider’s actual feelings, but are given the time to ponder on our part in the narratives around us. There are scenes which harken back to post-colonialism, with Kennedy saying, “Yes, Madame Sarah,” or, “Please, Madame Sarah.” The way his character only speaks like this in one distinct setting is chilling. The entire narrative is laced with intricacies like this, all so subtle you almost don’t notice them, but they rankle and sting. I consider this work a huge achievement.
Alexandra Harbold (Director) takes this complex story with dynamic characters and breathes life into the text. Her deft direction is clear. Having seen her production last season of The Wolves, Harbold is a genius at intricate, intimate, and true human relations. She works in minimal sets and imbues them with vibrant and alive imaginary environments. Harbold is a master of her craft.
Suspended from the ceiling are many bottles of beer in which William Peterson (Light Design) uses to create space. The lights even flicker periodically, as if there were a power surge — a light touch that completes the atmosphere. Kerstin Hallows’ (Costume Design) pieces fit right in, both with the characters and the setting. I wish I was in the room when the decision was made to put Kennedy in a shirt that buttons in the fashion of women’s clothing.
The surprise design element of the evening is Jason Jensen (Sound Design). The bar scenes are all gently accentuated with ambient sound. First the sound of crickets and later the familiar remnants of glass, tinkling and gently clanking against one another in an elusive summer breeze. The whole effect is breathtaking. Nothing is overstated and nothing is out of place.
Stokes-Wylie says, “this is a play that makes you debate your own opinions, your own political stances, and your own sense of right and wrong. The two characters are so smart, charismatic, and passionate, it’s difficult to know on whose side you fall at any given time. A brilliantly crafted, muscular script with exciting production possibilities.” This truly is a brilliantly crafted text brought to life by an extremely talented cast and crew. Death of a Driver is emotional, heart wrenching, lovable, relatable, and beautiful – a production worth seeing more than once.
CONTENT ADVISORY: There is strong language throughout the production.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the Theatre. See their website here.
Salt Lake Acting Company presents the Utah Premiere of Death of a Driver by Will Snider.
168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103
September 11 – October 20, 2019, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $25 – $44, Students are $15, Under 30’s are $20
Contact: 801-363-7522
Salt Lake Acting Company
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tickets.saltlakeactingcompany.org
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