How I Learned To Drive

Paula Vogel is a playwright who doesn't shrink from issues, as is quite evident in her Off-Broadway hit, How I Learned To Drive, now in an open-ended run at the new Century Theatre in New York City. The much acclaimed work, which among other honors took the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Best Play, is a politically incorrect -- as well as sexually-themed and controversial -- comedy. The much underrated Bruce Davison, who through the years has proven as at home on-stage as he is on-screen, shines as Peck. (He, like other family members, is named for prodigious body parts.) Peck is a desperately lonely man who falls in love with his niece, Li'l Bit. Davison takes over the part from the critically acclaimed David Morse and is outstanding in a role that, in spite of its complications, playwright Vogel makes oddly endearing and sympathetic. The kink here is that he makes romantic overtures to his niece, first when she's a mere child, and, during some steamy driving lessons, teaches her more than how to put on the brakes.

It should be pointed out that Li'l Bit is more than a bit curious and for a long time is a willing "victim." It's a complicated part, and the delightful Mary-Louise Parker left some big shoes to fill, even if the character is a "li'l bit." Former movie brat-packer Molly Ringwald, who began making films at age 13, makes a nice transition from screen to stage with this very demanding role. This is only her second time on the boards after making countless films here and in France (she speaks French fluently).

Author Vogel's philosophy is to be always forthright with her audiences. "I want to seduce them," she says. "If they can go along for a ride they wouldn't normally take, or don't even know they're taking, then maybe they can experience highly-charged political issues in a new and unexpected way. I know this is a time of political correctness, and I've gone against the grain. But if audiences don't embrace both sides of an issue, how can there be real political dialogue?"