The Observer, March 2, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 19
Students successful in How I Learned to Drive
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Certain theatrical works defy specific classification. Neither fully comedy nor drama, these plays are hybrids of the two genres, containing the high points of both, while avoiding some of the pitfalls of each separate classification. One such work is How I Learned to Drive, a 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Paula Vogel, which just finished its run at Case's own Eldred Theatre.
Directed by John Jensen and starring an undergraduate cast of seven, Vogel's play is a portrait of a young woman named Li'l Bit, who is involved in a Lolita-esque romantic relationship with her uncle by marriage, Peck. The play consists of snapshots of Li'l Bit's life, as narrated by her and by an ensemble of five characters, credited as the Greek Chorus. Hovering between awkward, serious drama and light-hearted, Southern tinged comedy, How I Learned to Drive affects its viewers more deeply than they would expect.
Kristie Erin Barnes, who portrayed Li'l Bit, did a fantastic job interpreting the complexities of her character. The play required her to constantly switch from functioning as the narrator to interacting with the other characters, usually within a split second. Barnes handled her role phenomenally, playing an awkward teenage girl equally as well as an older, wiser woman later in the show.
Ryan Santa, playing the pedophilic Uncle Peck, was the standout actor of the performance. He turned Uncle Peck into a character that the audience actually sympathized with, instead of falling into the potential trap of being the scapegoat. In the end, when Li'l Bit "breaks up" with Peck, the audience is proud of Li'l Bit for growing up and rejecting Peck's advances, but they are torn between also feeling sorry and heartbroken for Peck, which is a definite testament to Santa's abilities.
The five supporting actors also handled their roles spectacularly. Emily Demko, who portrayed Li'l Bit's grandmother, among other narrating roles, did a stellar job bringing the grandmother to life. When the women of the family are discussing men and sex around the dinner table, Demko seems to age fifty years to embody the crotchety old grandmother. Li'l Bit's mother was brought to life by Marie Huntley, who stole nearly every scene she was in. The mother's crowning comical moment, when she climbs on a table as she tells her daughter a woman's rules for drinking like a lady, reigns supreme as the gut-buster of the show.
The set and lighting design by Russ Borski were also above average. The minimalistic set consisted of trees with street signs, uneven slats of flooring, and moveable tables and chairs, which was all that was needed to tell the moving story. Both subtle and stark at the same time, the lighting encapsulated every mood that it needed to with understated bluish-green background lights and bright reddish-white spotlights.
How I Learned to Drive was a well-acted and well-designed show. Combining aspects of comedy and drama, Vogel tells a finely crafted, affecting story that sticks with the audience for a long time after viewing.
