An Other Theater Co.'s HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE Puts Women In Control

Running weekends through July 7th, An Other Theater Company is currently presenting Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, continuing their trend of providing an alternative theatrical voice to Utah County.

The play centers around Li'l Bit, a woman who, as a child, was pulled into a sexually abusive relationship by her uncle. Essentially a memory play, Cathy Ostler plays Li'l Bit as she approaches 70, telling the story of her traumatic past and playing herself at various ages from 11 to mid-twenties as she examines the effects the trauma had on her. In AOTC's production, director Liz Golden has chosen to cast the play with all women actors, including in the parts of Uncle Peck and the Male Chorus.

On working with an all-women cast, Chelsea Hickman who plays Uncle Peck says, "It has been really empowering and very supportive. Being Uncle Peck and being supported by other women, I feel safe, and I feel that this story doesn't belong to him, it belongs to us."

On the process, Golden says "[it was] really nurturing, finding the truth in the moments and deciding how to tell this story without re-traumatizing everyone while still expressing the trauma."

Cathy Ostler, who previously appeared at AOTC as Sonia in their production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, plays Li'l Bit in the production. "I think it is very appropriate...especially here in Provo where people want to sweep this under the carpet, blame it on how the girls are dressed, blame it on curfew, instead of saying "This is wrong. This is wrong and it should not be tolerated, and we're going to listen to our girls, listen to our women, and we're going to teach our men different ways of behaving."

The play runs Fridays and Saturdays June 15th through July 7th at 7:30pm (with one 2:00pm matinee June 30th) in their blackbox theater in the Provo Towne Centre.

About An Other Theater Company:

An Other Theater Company seeks to provide a voice to many who are overlooked in the mainstream local theatre scene, including stipulations in its season selection process to highlight works by and about women as well as the LGBT community.

To post a comment, you must register and login.