SHU theater review: How I Learned to Drive

05/07/05

By Meredith Ponczak
Staff Writer

Sophomore Sarah Stairs sums up the new theatre department production How I Learned to Drive: “Aside for the pedophilia aspect, it’s a coming-of-age story of the development of sex in the adult world a little too soon and a little too close to home.”

The first phrase - “the pedophilia aspect” - is the critical one. How I Learned to Drive is the story of Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck and the close bond that leads to molestation.

Starting at a young age, Uncle Peck takes advantage of that trust when he begins to teach Li’l Bit to drive.

The story shifts around from the present to the years between 1963 and 1969. The dialogue usually clues in to the current year. Voice-overs about the gears of a car, especially “you and the reverse gear,” tell the audience that the story is shifting back to the 60’s. The set helps as well. Upright pyramids are able to be spun around to show road signs, which are the background for Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck’s driving lessons. When the women are in the kitchen, the pyramids are spun again to a floral wallpaper design.

Li’l Bit is played by junior Adrienne Fischer, who does a superb job of conveying the various emotions of her character.

The story changes time periods so quickly, Fischer does not get to stay in one situation for long. She must jump from frustrated to uncertain to angry to guilty within a few scenes. The rest of the cast is just as good. Jeremy Burkett, junior, believably depicts the off-kilter, reformed drunk with an unhealthy obsession that is Uncle Peck. Peck’s twisted mentality only comes out behind closed doors, and Burkett manages his two-faced character well.

The Greek choruses are hilarious. Freshmen Darcy Wood and Jamie Torres and senior Matthew Starry play their over-the-top characters to counteract the seriousness of the rest of the play. Without them, the show risks getting bogged down in the somber details of Peck and Li’l Bit’s relationship.

Juli Sproull, sophomore, said, “The acting in the play was superb. It has to be hard to act for nearly two hours straight. The actors actually made me believe that I wasn’t watching my classmates, but professionals.”

When asked how the first night’s performance went, sophomore Meredith Davis, a member of the production crew, said, “It went really well.”

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Posted by Setonian Online at May 7, 2005 09:13 AM