But don’t expect any reassuring sentimental glow. The guy finally utters those three little words that the girl has needed to hear. In Butz’s spellbinding performance, the alcoholic and unhappy Uncle Peck is the saddest and neediest person in the play, which makes him both disarming and dangerous. Julian Hester, Katherine Bourne Taylor, and Kathryn Acosta function as a Greek Chorus, delivering infuriating examples of the hidebound idiocy and misogynistic blinders of sex in the 60s. Vogel’s boldest stroke in this provocative play is to discard the common image of the pedophile as drooling monster and present him as he more often is — disturbingly human and all too real. Sure, the showier sins of a Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey or Bill Cosby trigger appropriate disgust but, as Vogel depicts, pedophilia begins at home. Ulrich’s ugly uncle smoothly combines the coaxing ways of a charming horndog with the appalling narcissism of a professional pervert. This creature is L’il Bit’s uncle by marriage, yoked to a wife (Kathryn Acosta) who will stand by her man in the worst way (including blaming his victim). We sit helpless and contaminated just by watching this crackup, wondering how much terrible truth a one-act can possibly present. It’s one of the great feel-good clichés of storytelling. Many scenes are supplemented with fifties- and sixties-era billboard ads for cars, cigarettes or alcohol, usually an ad that uses female sexuality in an exploitative manner. Not that full-frontal shock tactics were ever part of the methodology of this wry and poetic memory play, set mostly in rural Maryland, in which a woman recalls her sexual initiation by her uncle during driving lessons that began when she was 11. In these moments you can see where Estle’s production could have really shone, using design elements to create an aesthetically coherent, hard-hitting commentary on the material. Copyright 1991-2020 © Playbill Inc. All Rights Reserved. In the original production of “Drive,” staged by Mark Brokaw at the Vineyard Theater, Peck was given what felt like a definitive portrayal by David Morse, a master of subliminal menace. So do we, thanks to Mr. Butz. Children like him, love him, and why not? When she turns 18, his happiness will be complete — and it won’t be statutory rape. Vogel even injects an improbable but load-lifting infusion of gallows humor, all but recreating Carol Burnett’s toxically dysfunctional wife Eunice and her Dixie doodle family from hell. (Review by Tulis McCall) ... (Elizabeth Reaser), who is about to tell us of the way that she learned to drive. Were we in the hands of an actor who could handle this, perhaps that would have been clearer. Boys will be boys but, when a man gets out of hand, he requires either the broom or the rolling pin. Yet “Drive” feels more fluidly integrated — and less artificial — than anything else Ms. Vogel has written. The play is steeped in a gentle lyricism we associate with nostalgic portraits of American youth. (Ben Kaye). It is structured to move back and forth in time, each scene titled as though from a driving manual: Moving … That's So Raven: A Review of The Gentleman Caller at Raven Theatre Language-heavy, plot-light and emotionally fraught, this world premiere from Philip Dawkins finds an ideal home at Raven Theatre. Li’l Bit was surely abused during those driving lessons, but she also earned her independence by learning how to handle a car — and the man who taught her how to drive. Drive On: A Review of Jitney at Congo Square Theatre. Stuck In Place: A Review of Breach: a manifesto on race in america through the eyes of a black girl recovering from self-hate at…. Try not to do what you shouldn’t do, and if you cannot manage that, at least don’t get caught and shame your family. (He won Tony Awards for variations on that type in the musicals “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “Catch Me if You Can”). But L’il Bit’s shifting reactions to his unwanted advances run the gamut from grudging gratitude for Peck’s gratuitous attention to reflexive resentment over his taking advantages — and everything in between. Scenes of Li’l Bit and Peck driving together have a gigantic steering wheel projected above. Nor the one between Li’l Bit and the rest of the men in her life. And I realized anew how much “Drive” is about the forms of memory, both protective and masochistic. Within our contemporary culture that is, thankfully, a lot more open to hearing and recognizing stories of sexual assault and coercion, there is a lot to ponder in the strangely complex and nuanced relationship built between Li’l Bit and Peck, especially in Stoughton and Ulrich’s onstage relationship. And her face lights up like candles on a birthday cake. (Not such a good idea, that one.). From the start this Maryland girl is mired in ignorance — no sex talks from an emotionally M.I.A. This wrenching, rarely-performed drama from William Inge gets a stirring revival at Eclipse Theatre Company. The physical landscape of Li’l Bit’s memory is arguably the bread-and-butter of what makes Vogel’s play tick. In the age of #Metoo, it is important to note that sexual harassment and abuse of women and girls is not a new phenomenon. As Li’l Bit invites us to enter her past, Ms. Reaser, who is best known for film and television (the “Twilight” movies, “Grey’s Anatomy”), seems almost too defiantly neutral in her delivery. Elizabeth Reaser as Li'l Bit, with Norbert Leo Butz, in a revival of Paula Vogel's play at the Second Stage Theater. And we’re reminded that Ms. Vogel did not write a tract or a diatribe but a mutable work of art that can be reinterpreted without losing its essential shape. Surreal production style delineated by helmer Kate Whoriskey (“Ruined”) instantly identifies the piece as an expressionistic memory play. Since this is Li’l Bit’s personal memory play, you have to wonder why she retains such fond feelings for Peck (Norbert Leo Butz), the uncle who seduced her when she was 11 years old. Vogel has penned a shocking play on a distressing subject, but the subtlety of her writing and the ambiguity of her themes leave the play open to any number of interpretations. Whether indulging in “photo shoots” to promote his niece for possible Playboy pornography, plying her with booze, or turning the shifting of gears into a raunchy ritual, Peck imagines — despite their 31-year difference — that she’s the mate he should have married. A person you wouldn’t trust with a pen knif is capable of leading a grown person on to the point where he loses control. Some stories don’t need that explicit of a road map. A Lane Worth Staying In: A Review of How I Learned to Drive at The Artistic Home The Artistic Home's production of Paula Vogel's Pultizer Prize-winning play is storefront theater at its very best. It’s a crash course in coping with what should never be endured: Vogel conveys it with a you-are-there immediacy and resilience that turns sheer survival into a kind of art. “I love you,” he says. And the role of the narrator — identified only by her childhood nickname, Li’l Bit — fitted the captivatingly vulnerable Mary Louise Parker so naturally that it was hard to imagine anyone else in it. The play is very well written, very engrossing and very disturbing. If anything, “How I Learned to Drive,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, seems even sadder, funnier and more perceptive, now that its original shock value has evaporated. Maddeningly or otherwise, L’il Bit’s crises — and, happily, her redemption — are common currency in 2019. Raven Theatre, 6157 North Clark, (773)338-2177, A Lane Worth Staying In: A Review of How I Learned to Drive at The Artistic Home. You’ll feel good in the way you do when two well-cast actors at the top of their games achieve a piercing transparency. Raven Theatre has done us proud by restoring its horrors and its healing. We also see, with biting comic clarity, the culture that breeds such guilt. And the source of this dullness is our narrator, Li’l Bit (Elizabeth Reaser), who is about to tell us of the way that she learned to drive. And that’s exactly as it should be. The same hand that will be used later on with much different intent. Stage and Cinema Reviews Theater, Dance, Music, Etc. And the climactic hotel room scene where Peck has shown up to celebrate Li’l Bit’s eighteenth birthday is undercut by the backdrop of a pile of evacuation plan maps. He’s gentle, he’s kind, he’s patient — and he understands them well enough to make them complicit in their own seduction. But as directed by Kate Whoriskey (who did Lynn Nottage’s “Ruined,” another Pulitzer winner), Mr. Butz and Ms. Reaser are as convincing as their predecessors, though in a different way. The good, the bad and the ugly all reflected in the stories we tell. By Dee Jae Cox It’s a given that theatre often mirrors society and culture. Which pretty much guarantees that we haven’t seen the last of Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck, or resolved the mysteries of their relationship. “How I Learned to Drive,” which won Paula Vogel the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 (and hasn’t been seen in New York since), is one of those plays you don’t forget in a hurry. Estle’s work with this cast is the true strength of this production, creating a sense of unity and clarity in the tight-knit ensemble. "First-rate revival. Tony Kiser Theater at Second Stage Theater, Elizabeth Reaser and Norbert Leo Butz in "How I Learned to Drive. Though Ms. Vogel can be a sharp polemicist (“The Mineola Twins,” “The Oldest Profession”), here she uses the softer skills of seduction to enlist her audience’s trust. Butz gives it his best shot, and he succeeds in losing his boyish good-natured persona that so many of us are used to seeing on stage. External links to full reviews from popular press... New York Times - New York Daily News - New York Post - Back Stage - The Record - Newsroom Jersey - Variety. But I warmed to the actress who became the girl that her character was. It's well written and very witty. Read Next: ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ Review: Heidi Schreck Gives Audiences Even More Reasons to Vote, ‘Girl From the North Country’: Theater Review, Brian Wilson Disavows Trump’s Beach Boys Benefit in California (EXCLUSIVE), Beastie Boys License a Song for an Ad for First Time Ever, for Joe Biden Spot Focused on Live Music Shutdown, ‘Avengers’ Cast Assembles for Joe Biden Fundraiser, ‘The Vow’: What Happened to Keith Raniere, Allison Mack and Other Key Figures, ‘The Vow’: What the Finale’s Surprise Twist Means for Season 2, Bruce Willis Stars in Commercial for ‘Die Hard’ Car Batteries, Vishal Bhardwaj Sets up Agatha Christie Indian Film Franchise (EXCLUSIVE).