Theatrical Adaptation

I cant come up with an original title. So, blog #8

The show How I learned to Drive by Paula Vogel is a very twisted play in which a girl is sexually molested by her uncle for 7 years. Working with this show was a very new experience for me because I have never had to give the subject of incest a deep thought like I had to for the show.
Incest and child abuse are major problems we have in society, but because of the media, no one ever thinks twice about both sides of the story. The news makes the stories so black and white that the citizens of the affected area just believe what they hear: that the predator is either a strange man who only goes after young children, or that the predator is the “nicest person.” But no one can really believe these stories. As written in the show, the so called “predator” is a man who everyone trusts, a man who is very respected by all, a man who helps anywhere possible. Uncle Peck is a trustworthy man; the last person expected to do such an act. The part that people look past, however, is the fact that Peck also has his emotional problems. Peck is shown as a human in this play, not as a sexual predator. It is shown that he is a person who has needs, and wants, and troubles, just like everyone else. He just has a strange way of relieving his stresses. It is given as a clue in the end of the show that perhaps someone had done to him what he had done to Lil’ Bit. When she says: “Who did it to you, Uncle Peck? How old were you? Were you 11?” it gives the audience the idea that perhaps this whole incidence is just a part of a huge cycle that has been going on for years. It is also a clue within the family that sex is just a huge part of their lives with Grandma getting married at 14, and Lucy getting pregnant at a young age.
On the other hand, it is not fair to state that Lil’ Bit is the sole victim in this situation. She is also, in a sense, a predator towards Uncle Peck. She has control through many of the scenes as she states that she is “drawing the line” and that he is “not to cross it” after she has drawn the final line. And she plays with his mind. Saying that she wants him to teach her to drive, and she wants to do the photo shoot, and she never actually stops anything that he is doing by telling anyone what is going on. She also continues the cycle of child abuse when in the scene on the bus with the young man, she describes the “second act” of their meeting, implying what happened after they get off the bus. In this scene, she finally sees that she is doing what was done to her. The cycle again continues.

posted by LilmissKS @ 1:04 AM