Theater Review: How I Learned to Drive

The program for this show tells us that Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company prides itself on its “art to the gut sensibility” and “believes that exceptional storytelling is rooted in a sense of joyful play, human connection and gutsy intensity.”

In its latest production, Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive,” which plays through March 16 at downtown’s Tenth Avenue Arts Center, it’s the gutsy intensity that will both enthrall (and perhaps even exhaust) you.

Directed by Anthony Methvin, this two-hour nonstop play (winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) illustrates a strained relationship between a young teenage girl and an adult man who finds her sexually interesting. The girl, named Li’l Bit and played magnificently by Megan Carmitchel, thinks her admirer Robert (Francis Gercke) is just weird  and a possible child abuser until he offers to teach her something she wants to know: how to drive. But driving isn’t even half of what this show is about. 

Also in the show are three other fine actors – William Huffaker, Karson St. John and Emilee Zuniga, (called Male Greek Chorus, Female Greek Chorus and Teenage Greek Chorus in the program) who each play a multitude of other characters who swirl around Li’l Bit and Robert.

Three of the other women also play Li’l Bit’s mother, aunt and grandmother at different times, and also many other characters (that’s why all except Li’l

Bit and Robert are called “Greek Chorus” (one each: male, female, teenage). The women continue the general plot about man’s relation to woman in general, often amusingly.

Kudos to director Methvin for keeping things both moving and intriguing, and to the other designers. Yi-Chien Lee does a fine job with the set and props designs. 

Jessica John Gercke’s costume designs also deserve kudos. 

Curtis Mueller’s lighting and George Ye’s sound designs call attention to the right people and places at the right times, as does Chad Ryan’s technical direction.

I advise that you enter this show with no expectations about what you might see, because they will likely be smashed very quickly anyway. If you’re an adventurous theatergoer, this is for you. 

Thanks to Methvin and his sterling cast, the show will at least intrigue you, if not send you away smiling about how much fun it was.

Recommend it to likeminded people you know.

“How I Learned To Drive” plays through March 16, 2024 at downtown’s  Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Avenue (where 163 hits Tenth Avenue).

Shows Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m. Industry night is Monday, March 11 at 7 p.m. 

Prices: General admission, $40; Seniors and military, $35; Dogtag members $30 (must have access code) and Students, $18 (with student ID)