In the latter role, standing completely still in a spotlight, Gold delivers the most heartbreaking moment to be experienced on Broadway this season.īrokaw directs. Beyond delivering wonderful performances in plays as varied as “Proof,” “Sweat” and “Drive,” Day possesses the core quality of a real star: You want to go on her journey as soon as she appears on stage.Īlso impressive is Gold in her role as the Teenage Greek Chorus, which requires her to play a grandmother and an 11-year-old girl. He always makes sure to tell the girl that it is her choice as he carefully lays out the obstacles so that she is left with only one choice.ĭay plays what Vogel calls the Female Greek Chorus, but which is really a couple of characters plus a narrator who delivers an hysterically funny dissertation in three parts on how to drink lots of booze and still be a lady. The uncle’s overwhelming kindness toward his niece is his seduction technique. Well, any nuance that Vogel missed is provided by Morse’s subtle, masterful performance. Tracy Letts Delivers a Civics Lesson in 90 Minutes Parker is not one of them, and since “Drive” is a memory play, it adds poignancy to the character’s horrors that her story is being filtered through the eyes of a middle-aged woman who still sees the scenes of the crime in the rearview mirror. More than one actor this theater season has struggled playing extreme youth on stage. Throughout much of Vogel’s play, she plays a teenager who is sexually abused by an uncle, played by Morse. Friedman Theatre.Īmong the three original actors, now joined by newcomers Alyssa May Gold and Chris Myers, Parker has the hardest lift by far. They’re all back, looking better than ever – and that includes the play itself – only now they’re on Broadway, where “How I Learned to Drive” opened Tuesday at MTC’s Samuel J. Twenty-five years ago, Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive” opened Off Broadway starring Mary-Louise Parker, David Morse and Johanna Day under the direction of Mark Brokaw. It is a very happy silver anniversary for a number of talented artists in the theater.

How i learned to drive story