Theatre Reviews—

Painful, But Excellent Lessons On New Milford Stage

By Julie Stern

NEW MILFORD — I’m not sure how to frame this review. Since TheatreWorks New Milford is staging it, it comes as no surprise that Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive is beautifully done, with the five players giving a consummate performance under the clear, strong direction of Alicia Dempster.

That the play itself is well crafted is also clear. In fact it won the Pulitzer Prize a few years back when it had its world premiere off-Broadway.

The difficulty, for this reviewer at least, is that the production affords such an excruciating vision of emotional pain it becomes harrowing to watch an invasion of personal privacy.

This is not immediately apparent, although the subject of the play — sexual molestation of a child by a family member — is common knowledge. The story is told ostensibly through the voice of the protagonist, Li’l Bit, as she recounts the years of “driving lessons” she received from her Uncle Peck. In the beginning the tone is wryly affectionate.

When Peck makes advances to Li’l Bit in the front seat of a parked car, the 17-year-old seems fully capable of handling the situation, fending him off like an importunate high school date. Indeed, as he proclaims his desire for her he brings to mind Nabokov’s Lolita, in which the protagonist is a middle-aged man obsessed by his love for a young girl.

In comparison to the rest of her quarrelsome, dysfunctional family, Uncle Peck, an ex-Marine with the southern drawl and patient good humor, is the only person who shows her respect and attention.

However, as playwright Vogel uses the directional signals of a driving lesson — “reverse gear…” “idle” “forward gear” — to move back and forth in time between past and future, the origins of the relationship and the extent of the long-term damage to Li’l Bit begins to become clearer as Peck emerges as a predatory manipulator, and the rest of her family hapless enablers.

Further, the driving lessons become a metaphor for all of life, as Peck explains to his niece that he loves driving because being behind the wheel is the one thing that gives him a sense of “power,” while it is exactly the powerlessness of her situation as a victim that makes her life a continual torment.

Jacqueline Decho and Michael Brumbaugh give compelling performances in the two principal roles. They are ably supplemented by a three person “Greek chorus” made up of Daniel Barr, Sonnie Osborne and Priscilla Squiers, playing numerous family members. Ms Osborne does some wonderful monologues as a mother giving advice on how to handle liquor, while Mr Barr and Ms Squiers do a humorous turn as the cantankerous, dirty-minded grandparents with whose teasing the girl must contend.

There is also a chilling scene with Mr Brumbaugh alone in which he is teaching a young boy to fish for pompano. It begins with charm and kindness, making you really like him before it is revealed as a prelude to seduction, hinting at the reasons Uncle Peck was forced to leave South Carolina and the Marines.

That the rest of the family knew this and did not protect the ten-11-year-old Li’l Bit is the devastating revelation of the play.

How I Learned To Drive is a powerful work, given powerful interpretation by the New Milford company. Before you go, however, be aware that it deals with very heavy and painful issues. It is definitely not for children, and even parents may lose some sleep over it.

(How I Leaned To Drive continues at TheatreWorks through October 14. The theatre can be reached by calling 860/350-6863).