How I Learned To Drive Response

The Greek chorus thing sort of threw me off the first time I read it a couple years ago. If I had to guess, I’d say that Vogel uses the Greek chorus to sort of lighten the mood with the heavy material. From reading the production notes, she seems pretty lose about how she wants the chorus to be used, as long as they assist in creating the atmosphere. The fact that everyone in the play except Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck are played by chorus members is pretty significant; I think she made this decision because the play revolves around those two. Obviously, they’re vital to the plot, but the other members of Li’l Bit’s family are pretty nonexistent. The people that she trusts most kind of ignore her and even though Peck molests her, he’s probably the most supportive and closest “friend” she has. The chorus is there to mix up perspective and everyone in the chorus is not really type-casted. For example, the Teenage Greek Chorus is suggested to be a 21-25 year old women who could past for eleven years old, but she always plays the role of Grandmother. It adds another dimension to what’s wrong in this world. I really don’t know, but that’s my guess. I thought the way that Vogel chose to tell Li’l Bit’s story was a bit confusing the first time I read it as well. The flashbacks were a little scrambled, but effective none the less. The play goes back in forth in time and in a sense, we kind of see the end of Bit’s relationship with her uncle before it truly begins. Personally, the way the story is arranged has a strong effect on my opinion of Uncle Peck. I’ll never like him for obvious reasons, but I do feel some sympathy for him because I don’t know if something was really wrong with him or if he was just a monster. My feelings about Li’l Bit change as well and I don’t know if those things would happen if the events were arranged in chronological order.