Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize, co-winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and co-winner of the 1998 Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding play, How I Learned to Drive is the story of a woman who learns the rules of the road and life from behind the wheel. A wildly funny, surprising and devastating tale of survival as seen through the lens of a troubling relationship between a young girl and an older man.
Praise
Five out of six stars . . . Reeder’s excellent production is anchored by (Brenda) Barrie’s commanding performance . . . (Ron) Butts’s nuanced work as the charming, traumatized war veteran Peck makes a worthy match . . . (Tony) Bozzuto, (Jessica) Williamson and particularly (Katherine) Keberlein provide valuable support as the ‘Greek chorus’ portraying every other character . . . Dustin Efird’s spare set design . . . combined with Nick Keenan’s tremendous AM-radio sound design to suggest the way a life is remembered in bits and pieces.”
December 8th, 2020
Playwright Paula Vogel’s tricky, Pulitzer-winning 1997 play does something disarming: It presents a sympathetic portrait of a pedophile. The relationship between L’il Bit and her Uncle Peck upends all expectations; moving back and forth in L’il Bit’s memory, attacking sweetly and aggressively as memories do, Vogel doesn’t place full blame on any party, instead spreading it among Uncle Peck, the other members of L’il Bit’s family and L’il Bit herself. Reeder’s excellent production is anchored by Barrie’s commanding performance. As both the mercurial central character and the more grounded, adult narrator, Barrie takes L’il Bit from early adolescence to adulthood with sly confidence. Butts’s nuanced work as the charming, traumatized war veteran Peck makes a worthy match. (Bozzuto, Williamson and particularly Keberlein provide valuable support as the “Greek chorus” portraying every other character.) Vogel’s unkempt structure makes it difficult for us to pass judgment on this messy situation as quickly and tidily as we’d like; it’s hard to tell, between narrator L’il Bit and her Uncle Peck, who is the more skilled seducer. Dustin Efird’s spare set design—backed by road signs, automobile parts, pieces of clothing and other insignificant signifiers strung together with twine—combines with Nick Keenan’s tremendous AM-radio sound design to suggest the way a life is remembered in bits and pieces: Memories are triggered by the smell of a blanket or the sound of a Moody Blues song, and can be reassuring and discomfiting at the same time.
- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago
- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago (Read the full review)
“Critic’s Choice. In Matthew Reeder’s delicate, straightforward production for BackStage Theatre Company, Brenda Barrie gives a realistic yet dignified portrayal of the adolescent L’il Bit, while Ron Butts’s soft voice and ingratiating manner deftly suggest a Humbert Humbert seducing his Lolita.”
- Chicago Reader
Cast & Crew
Tresa Makosky
Stage Manager
Brenda Barrie
Lil' Bit
Brenda Barrie accepted the invitation to be an Ensemble Member in 2008. Credits with BSTC include Aunt Dan in the Jeff Recommended production of Aunt Dan and Lemon, Lauren Chickering in the Chicago premiere of Beauty on the Vine, originally produced in New York by the Epic Theatre Center with Olivia Wilde as Lauren, Li'l Bit in the acclaimed How I Learned to Drive which garnered the cast and crew Critic's Choice in the Reader, and Florrie in Waiting for Lefty, which received a Jeff Nomination for Ensemble. Credits around town include the title role in the Jeff Recommended production of Mrs. Caliban at Lifeline Theatre, Lulu in The Ruby Sunrise at the Gift Theatre, the title role in Mariette in Ecstasy with Lifeline Theatre (which garnered Barrie a Jeff Nomination for Principal Actress), understudying Curly's Wife in Of Mice and Men at Steppenwolf Theatre (SYA), originating the role of Sara in the world premiere of the critically acclaimed Graceland at Profiles Theatre, Miss Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, understudying the female leads in St. Scarlet for American Theatre Company, Lena in Caravaggio with Silk Road Theatre Project, Ala in Tango at the Chopin Theatre, Ensemble in the 13th Annual Winter Pageant with Redmoon Theater, Soloist in Ragnorak with Tantalus Theatre Group and Fannie in Thimbleberry Gallows with GreyZelda Theatre Group. She also enjoyed doing the motion capture for Wonder Woman & Cat Woman in the video game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and is currently preparing for The New Elements Play Festival in late April. Brenda earned her BFA in Acting from the University of Indianapolis and studied theatre at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. www.brendabarrie.net
Tony Buzutto
Male Greek Chorus
Katherine Keberlein
Female Greek Chorus
Jessica Williamson-Record
Teenage Greek Chorus
R. Brad Criswell
Lighting Designer
Dustin Efird
Scenic Designer
Nick Keenan
Sound Designer
Kerith Wolf
Costume Designer
Matthew Reeder - Director
Tresa Makosky - Stage Manager
Ron Butts - Uncle Peck
Tony Buzutto - Male Greek Chorus
Katherine Keberlein - Female Greek Chorus
Jessica Williamson-Record - Teenage Greek Chorus
R. Brad Criswell - Lighting Designer
Dustin Efird - Scenic Designer
Nick Keenan - Sound Designer
Kerith Wolf - Costume Designer
