Insight Theatre Polishes 'Becky's New Car'

Becky lives a simple, middle-aged life. She works in a used car dealership trying to make ends meet and that's OK with her. While she and her husband struggle to pay bills like everybody else, she's not really looking for an adventure. And then the man walks in.

That's the back story of Becky's New Car, a wild ride presented by the Insight Theatre Company at the Heagney Theater on the campus, Thursday through June 19. The play, written by Steven Dietz, is a St. Louis premiere and stars 30-year veteran of the St. Louis stage, Susie Wall.

The man who walks into the dealership is a wealthy suitor and mistakenly assumes Becky is a widow. Intrigued, Becky doesn't correct him, and thus begins her adventure and secret double existence.

“She's not a typical lady,” Wall said. “She doesn't care about gardening or those kind of things. She longs for things to be quiet, but suddenly it's not anymore.”

Although Dietz had already written the first draft of the play when the economy took its downturn, there are many parallels to the economic collapse. Everyone is struggling to make money and saving coupons, and Becky even talks about the economy and how bad it is when the wealthy man enters her life. But her reason for getting involved is not based on money.

“It's not about him being rich,” Wall said. “He's charming. There's a quote in the play, 'If a woman wants a new car, she wants a new life.'”

In the play, Becky breaks the fourth wall and engages the audience.

“The character talks to the audience, telling them how the story went,” Wall said. “The audience might talk back. I'll have to improvise. Dietz wrote possible responses for the actress depending on what audience members may say to her, but you never know. That's what's scary.”

Wall is well known to St. Louis theater audiences with 30 years of acting roles on stages all over town, and she's become identified by her comedic skills, sense of timing and voice work on local radio. In this play, Wall is looking for something deeper.

“People have seen me do this fast paced, frantic character before, but now at middle-age, I'm trying to find the ground she walks on,” Wall said. “I'm in a place right now where I'm ready to have an audience.”

The director, Tlaloc Rivas, graduated from University of Washington in Seattle and has worked as a director at such prestigious companies as The Public Theater, Long Wharf Theater and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has recently arrived in St. Louis to become Assistant Professor of Theatre at University of Missouri St. Louis.

“It's great to work with a director who doesn't know you,” Wall said.

The play is a commissioned work. Dietz wrote it for a man who wanted to present the play to his wife on her birthday.

“It's a cool thing,” Wall said. “The generosity of hiring Steven Dietz to write it. What an incredible, romantic thing to do.

What: Becky's New Car by Steven Dietz
Where: Insight Theatre Company; The Heagney Theater at Nerinx Hall; 530 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves.
When: June 9 – 19; Thurs – Sat, 8 p.m.; Sun – 2 p.m. matinee
Tickets: $25 and $30; For tickets call 314-556-1293, or visit the Insight Theatre website.