On Nov. 22, 23 and 24, audience members underwent an awe-inspiring and thought-provoking experience. The Studio Theatre performed 'How I Learned to Drive' by Paula Vogel in the Black Box Theatre located in the Music and Theatre building.

The play explored the darker side of family relationships and sexuality. The plot centered on Li'l Bit's journey of discovery about sex and her role as a woman. She was an adolescent girl in the 1960's with a big bust and a small ego from a little town.

Learning to drive was a metaphor for her journey. Shifting into different gears signified various stages in her life. In one gear, school scenes dealt with Li'l Bit coming to terms with her large bosom. In another gear, three generations of women'Li'l Bit, her mother and her grandmother'often had discussions about sex and men.

Ultimately, however, the person who taught Li'l Bit to drive, in both senses of the word, was her Uncle Peck. He had loved his niece from the day she was born and wanted nothing more than to take her as his wife. Stopping him, however, was his current marriage and Li'l Bit's reluctance to lose her virginity. Throughout the play, Li'l Bit struggles between wanting to be a woman and making her uncle happy, and maintaining her own sense of morality.

A very stunned audience left the theater that night. Many had entered believing that it was a comedy about driving but quickly discovered the subject matter was much more serious. There were mixed reactions as the audience pondered what they had witnessed.

'I've never seen anything quite like that,' said freshman communications major Ben Smith. 'The acting was great. It was good.'

'It was intense, disturbing and intriguing' said freshman international studies and religion major, Erin Anderson.

Despite the questionable plot, the acting was wonderful. Junior communicaitons major, Beth Bauman and UD alum George C. L'Heureux Jr. were the starring members as Li'l Bit and Uncle Peck. Supporting actors included senior math and computer science major Jon Scheiding, junior theater major, Katie Compton and sophomore theater major, Amy Hand.

As everyone knows, actors cannot perform without the support of those behind the scenes. Directing the play was senior early childhood education major and theater minor, Laura Babcock.

The actors easily shifted between varying personas and played their roles in a very realistic fashion. The actress playing Li'l Bit transformed from a confident, self-assured thirty-year-old narrator to a scared, timid thirteen-year-old in the space of three footsteps. As both roles, she was genuine and one could easily believe she was her characters.

Likewise, young adults were called upon to play elderly grandparents. Every aspect of the actors, from their posture to their way of speaking, had one convinced that they were in their late eighties instead of their twenties.

The acting along with the story was enjoyable, yet suprising.