Driving Miss Daisy is one of the staples of American theatre. Originally written as a stage play in 1987, (and winning the Pulitzer Prize the following year), it was adapted to film in 1989, and then re-staged all over the nation and the world. Talents such as Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, James Earl Jones, and Angela Lansbury have all lent their voices to Alfred Uhry’s script, but while I’ve heard the play referenced countless times, I have to confess that attending its new production at the Mockingbird on Main was my first true exposure to the material. I finally see what all the hubbub is about.

An entertaining, illuminating program of three short stage pieces connected to a famous yet still frequently neglected Pulitzer Prize-winning writer from Davenport, the debuting theatre company the New Athens Players presents Spotlight on Susan Glaspell at Davenport's Village Theatre, its February 24 through March 5 run showcasing two premiering works and the celebrated playwright's lauded one-act Trifles.

Described by the New York Theatre Guide as “a terrifically entertaining time” and “a great big Broadway show that never loses its mind or its light touch,” the Elvis-meets-Shakespeare musical All Shook Up opens the Spotlight Theatre's 2023 season of musical extravaganzas, its February 17 through 26 run in Moline delivering hilarity, romance, and a batch of favorite pop and rock tunes including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “It's Now or Never,” and “Hound Dog.”

I'm often impressed upon my first glance at the set when I enter the Black Box Theatre: the opulent, creepy one of The Turn of the Screw; the enigmatic jumble of portraits and ripped flags for Assassins; the varying, multiple-locale settings for Little Women: The Musical. (This venue's crews find the most wonderful furniture and set dressing, too.) However, the set for playwright Lauren Gunderson's Natural Shocks, the Black Box's current production, blows them all away. I think I actually froze in astonishment.