An essential show at the Sala Beckett

There are works that approach horror with a Brechtian-rooted distancing that, without influencing emotional empathy, strike deep inside and reveal the most terrible aspects of the human condition. How I learned to drive She is one of them.

The American playwright Paula Vogel (Washington, 1951) could not have had a more successful debut among us. How I learned to driveThe play, winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is a committed and dramatically intelligent work that tackles the thorny issue of childhood sexual abuse with chilling honesty, but it frames the story's drama within a comedic, almost horror-comedy format. While it does have moments of humor, the central theme is the terror and revulsion that arises from learning how Uncle Peck perpetrates the abuse of a girl from the age of 11 to 18. And he does so, of course, while teaching her to drive. It's a slow process in which desire hides beneath kindness, love, and condescension in a fragmented, rhythmic drama that incorporates songs not only that explain the events but also their origins in a society educated in ignorance about sexuality, a society that confuses affection with terrible consequences. And although the play speaks of American society of a few years ago, it is well known that, unfortunately, the plague continues to ruin the lives of many children there and here.

Marilia Samper has skillfully directed a magnificent cast based on a very functional translation by Helena Tornero. The director has carefully controlled the pacing and successfully achieves the challenge of having a young actress (Alba Gallén) embody the roles of a grandmother and an 11-year-old girl with great ease and credibility. She does so playfully. With humor. And it works. Just as well, and in what way, does Mireia Aixalà's "little thing" (as they have called the girl since birth) work. Ivan Benet's Uncle Peck is a perverse Pygmalion who is terribly chilling, but, without in any way justifying his actions, he offers a glimpse into his war trauma and a tormented family past. Rounding out the excellent cast are the very funny Kathy Sey (who, of course, also sings) and Blai Juanet Sanagustin (pianist and saxophonist), who act as a kind of heart. A must-see.