How I Learned to Drive

This was another play with some unusual dramaturgical choices.  I questioned the purpose of the Greek Chorus.  Why wouldn’t actors be cast in those separate roles?  I was especially confused with the Teenage Greek Chorus playing the part of the grandmother.  I don’t understand the purpose of the same person playing Grandmother and the eleven-year-old Li’l Bit.  I know that in the notes about the characters it is very specific about the Teenage Greek Chorus.  It recommends using somebody older who just appears to be young.  Vogel did not want the audience to be made uncomfortable by a very young girl playing the part of eleven-year-old Li’l Bit, since she is in that intense scene at the end.  However, she has to still seem old enough to play the grandmother.  Why would Vogel choose to make such complicated and detailed requirements rather than just casting different actors in each character?

I think the most obvious conclusion is that she wants to create more of a distance from Peck and Li’l Bit.  If each character had a specific actor for those parts, the audience might try to connect with them a bit more.  Since they are played by the Greek Chorus, they remain much more separated than if they were more individualized.  I think it also symbolizes Li’l Bit and Peck’s relationship as well.  They both, in an odd way, provide stability to one another.  While all of the other characters sort of move in and out of their lives day to day, Peck and Li’l Bit each give something to the other that they really need.  Even though, there is a constant strain on their relationship, that is something that the other characters choose to ignore.  So, it’s symbolic that those characters lose some of their depth by being interchangeable with others.