- HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE
- The Chandler Studio Theatre
- Reviewed by Jose Ruiz
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Almost everyone will agree that
the world has a love affair with the automobile. Driving a car is an
expression of freedom – it means independence – it provides control, but
if not properly driven the car can become a vehicle for self destruction
or even a deadly weapon.
Author Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer
Prize winner is a metaphoric automobile trip that lasts for years,
carrying a young girl from the ages of eleven to a woman of thirty five as
she evolves from confused pre-pubescence to a manipulative teen-ager to an
enraged, embittered adult. Her co-passenger in this trip is her uncle, a
recovering alcoholic who loves the girl, but lets these feelings derange
from familial affection to a sexual obsession.
The story is a combination of
narrative, flashbacks, monologues and voice-overs that string together a
compelling drama that begins to unfold in Maryland in the early '60's.
Li’l Bit, as she is called,
is sort of an outsider, coming from a family who believes that going to
college is a waste of time for a woman, and as long as her breasts
continue developing she has nothing to worry about. Her uncle Peck is a
former alcoholic struggling to maintain his sobriety who likes photography
and feels out of place living in a house full of women. This is a rural
family with simple rules. Men work – women stay home, so Li’l Bit’s dreams
of getting a higher education fall on deaf ears – except her Uncle Peck.
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- Jennifer Sorenson - David Youse -
Skip Pipo - Allie Grant - Joanna Strapp
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- They find a common need to communicate with
someone who understands and so she agrees to go for a drive with him.
That’s when he first offers to teach her to drive his car even though
she’s only eleven, but the thrill and excitement of being behind the
wheel is too much to refuse, and so begins an almost ritualistic era
of clandestine meetings where he gives her a lesson and she allows him
to undo her bra as long as he continues to stay sober. It’s the old
carrot and stick variation; he lets her drive, she opens her blouse as
long as he stays within her parameters and abstains from drinking.
Paula Vogel creates a situation where it is very tricky to see who is
the victim and who is the manipulator.
This is where August Viverito
takes over. As director of this delicately balanced tale he guides his
actors on a sojourn that can only be called inspired. In an exceptional
performance, Joanna Strapp creates several portraits of Li’l Bit, taking
her from an eleven year old to a full grown woman. Li'l Bit is a complex
character, sometimes teasing, often flirting, at times confused and many
times resentful but the unlikely bond she has with Uncle Peck is
undeniable. The challenge of this performance can be appreciated when you
discover that Vogel did not write this play in linear time but has it
bounce back and forth across various time periods which Strapp handles
with believable authenticity. |
- Allie Grant - Joanna Strapp - David Youse
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David Youse has the unenviable
task of making Uncle Peck real without vilifying him. Uncle Peck is a
charismatic, likeable man, deeply troubled by his past and deadly afraid
of the future. His closeness to Li'l Bit began at her birth and in one way
or another he is her protector, her mentor and perversely, her abuser. Yet
he has become very close to her, as Li'l Bit screams at her mother in one
argument - he's like "the father I never had!" Youse's subtle delivery
only underscores the churning that must be festering inside his soul.
He's fully aware of the
impropriety of his actions, yet agonizes with wanton lust for Li'l Bit.
When she finally goes off to college, he continues to write to her
counting down the days to her eighteenth birthday hoping to fully
consummate his sexual desire with her. |
- Joanna Strapp - David Youse
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Supporting this duo is a
triumvirate identified as the Greek Chorus consisting of Allie Grant, Skip
Pipo and Jennifer Sorenson. They create the dysfunctional family
background, from her mother, her aunt, her grandmother and grandfather to
the high school students who tease Li'l Bit. Sorenson has a couple of
great scenes as the drunken mother trying to give Li'l Bit advice on how
to handle liquor when she's out with a man. Pipo is sympathetic as the
high school boy who wants to dance with Li'l Bit and Grant is terrific as
the Grandmother. A voice over by Ed Brand chronicles the various phases of
the driving lessons.
The small venue is perfect for
the intimacy demanded by this story and Viverito's spartan staging
accentuates the tension within the characters. Using only a platform bench
and a table the actors create a car, a dining room, a hotel and the other
settings which become all the more vivid because we have to create them in
our mind. In the end we see that we all have a secret desire, a hidden
dream, perhaps a forbidden wish and whether we give in to it or not is
often due to our background, or upbringing or our self-image, but we also
see that the results are often not remotely close to what was expected.
Everything has a price and often that which we think we enjoy most will
have the highest cost.
The Production Company, no
stranger to accolades, has opened the year with a powerful and dynamic
presentation that should contend for honors when awards time comes around.
Comments? Write to us at:
Letters@ReviewPlays.Com
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