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Friday, March 20, 2009
Arts / News Live Review: How I Learned to Drive
Posted By Anita Overcash on Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Davidson Community Players' How I Learned to Drive
Armour Street Theatre
March 19, 2009
The Deal: Davidson Community Players tackle serious subject matter in its performances of Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive. Staged in the new performance space, Armour Street Theatre, the opening night show was packed.
The Good: The play follows the swerves and passings of Li'l Bit's (played by Marla Brown) adolescence to adulthood, while using driving instructions throughout as a backdrop to the experiences and lessons shared. Li'l Bit is a victim of sexual abuse (emotionally and physically) by her Uncle Peck (played by Tom Scott), and much of the show focuses on their relationships development, as well as Li'l Bit's own messed up family life with her mother (played by Tory Macomson), grandmother (played by Amanda Roberge) and grandfather (played by Christian Love) - all of whom, when put together, make for a family dinner conversation that should never happen. From all of this Li'l Bit is scarred emotionally and left feeling degraded, yet she is also determined to drive away from the bad situation, once she is willing to confront it head on. Throughout the play, humor took away from the disturbing pedophilia subject matter. This included "a mother's guide to social drinking," by Li'l Bit's mother (played by Tory Macomson), which stirred laughs, as well as other parts of the play between Li'l Bit, Uncle Peck and other characters played by Macomson, Roberge and Love. The small cast, lack of costumes and stage props, and changes in appearance from character switching, was not a detour or downfall of the production. On the left and right sides of the stage a screen displayed photos of driving instructions, places and more, including photos of poses by calender girls -all popping up while Li'l Bit is being photographed by her Uncle Peck. The screen also displays close-up photo shots of Li'l Bit's own face on the screen, when she discovers yet another hurtful truth from her lousy relative. These theatrics added an extra touch of creativity to the already well-done acting going down on the stage.
The Bad: Despite touches of humor and a "driving lessons," throughout the show, the deep and horrifying issue of sexual abuse was always at hand. Subject matter was not something I'd typically want to see in theater, but it brought attention to an ongoing issue (pedophilia/sexual abuse) that must be confronted and stopped.
The Verdict: How I Learned to Drive tells the disturbing, yet triumphant story of a girl who deals with and rises from a life of sexual abuse. The performance is sad and touching, with tinges of humor throughout and an uplifting outcome.
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