“How I Learned to Drive” review by Jeffrey Leibham

RECOMMENDED*** Initially, I was somewhat alarmed when I saw that Artistic Home was going to be producing Paula Vogel’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “How I Learned to Drive” as part of their current season. After all, this drama deals with pedophilia and the sexually abusive relationship between a teen-aged girl and her uncle. Is this really the right time to revisit this work and address these themes in the height of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements? After seeing director Kayla Adams’ well-constructed production, it is clear that the answer to that question is a resounding “Yes.” 3 SPOTLIGHTS

Vogel’s script is a memory play, shifting scenes between 1962 and 1970. The protagonist, Li’l Bit (Elizabeth Birnkrant) is a woman in her early 40’s who recounts the details of her early teenage years up to the time that she leaves home to attend college. The product of an alcoholic mother and with no father present, Li’l Bit spends most of her family time surrounded by her Uncle Peck (John Mossman) and her elderly grandparents. All of the male supporting roles are played by a Male Greek Chorus (Reid Coker) while her mother et al. are played by a Female Greek Chorus (Jenna Steege) and Teenage Greek Chorus (Kelley Holcomb).

With a series of driving lessons (each introduced by a droll male voiceover reminiscent of those industrial PSA’s during the Cold War — think “Duck and Cover”) and roundtable discussions with her mother and grandmother regarding female sexual mores and practices we see much of Li’l Bit’s lonely and sheltered life, including a few scenes in her high school where she is ridiculed due to her name and the early development of her rather large breasts. Vogel clearly has a shrewd understanding of how her poetically composed scenes will have a powerful dramatic effect.

This is a very difficult play to successfully pull off but this production does carry it out despite those difficulties. Much of that is due to the two strong performances of Birnkrant and Mossman. As Li’l Bit, Birnkrant must show an entire range of emotions — confusion, anger, depression, guilt. She is wonderful in the scene where she has successfully completed her driver’s examination and gotten her license. Uncle Peck has taken her out to dinner at a fancy restaurant to celebrate and Li’l Bit drinks alcohol for the first time. After a dozen oysters and one too many martinis, Birnkrant shifts from bubbly, optimistic party girl to potential victim very quickly. She is also sexually titillating as she fearlessly strips down to panties and a bra to pose for some racy photos for her uncle.

Mossman, who may have the more challenging role of Uncle Peck, accomplishes the nearly impossible task of creating an incestuous monster who is also human. Not controlling nor manipulative, Mossman’s Uncle Peck is gentle not sinister, a recovering alcoholic who grew up in South Carolina (the play is set in Baltimore) and never felt that he fit in anywhere. A man haunted by his demons, perhaps a fellow victim himself.

“How I Learned to Drive” could just as easily be titled “How I Learned to Survive.” This engaging production, presented here with a minimalist set design and very few props, is the story of a newly independent woman who only feels real freedom when she is driving, long stretches of interstate highways or the rural backroads of the Eastern seaboard. Thankfully, her troubled past is just a mirage in her rearview mirror.

“How I Learned to Drive” runs through May 6th at The Artistic Home Theatre, 1376 W. Grand Avenue, Chicago.

Performances are :

Thursdays at 7:30 pm

Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm

Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Tickets range from $28-$32. Street parking only. FYI (866) 811-4111 or www.theartistichome.org.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “How I Learned to Drive”.