Hornby

In How I Learned to Drive, there is the repeated titling of scenes as something to do with driving. The whole show is given as a broken up driving lesson. The title reflects what you can expect in that scene. For example, a scene entitled "You and the Reverse Gear" will be in the past. A scene titled "Shifting Forward From First to Second Gear" will be about Lil Bit and Peck's relationship developing further. It isn't the exact same everytime but it always uses a metaphor with a car to show what will be happening. Driving is used as the overlaying motif because Uncle Peck and Lil Bit's weird messed up relationship started with him taking her on a drive and teaching her how to drive. They got their alone time when driving somewhere, they had special (creepy) moments in a car, and eventually a car gave Lil Bit the freedom to get away from her family, and move on from Uncle Peck.

A motif in Harry Potter is "the chosen one." This is throughout all 7 books and 8 movies. Harry Potter was the chosen one before he was even born because of a prophecy that actually could have been talking about 2 different people. But, because of who Voldemort went after Harry Potter's life was decided from the beginning. He would have to be the one to defeat the Dark Lord or die. The "chosen one" is repeated often through out both whether it be in a mocking fashion or in an encouraging, praiseful fashion, both J.K. Rowling and the script writers kept it in play the entire series because it was really by chance that Harry was the chosen on rather then Neville.
I had no idea how nerdy that would sound until I reread it, hopefully it's a good example of a motif.

How I learned to Drive

Vogel's How I learned to drive is quite a departure from Fornes' The Conduct of Life although it deals with vaguely similar creepiness. 

The way they are written is vastly different. One of the difference is the Greek chorus that Vogel includes to play all the characters but Uncle Peck and Lil Bit. There could be a myriad of reasons why Vogel chose this but the main one is because it heavily emphasizes Uncle Peck and Lil Bit's relationship. If you had given each character its own permanent actor it would make them and their story lines more substantial to the audience. With the Greek chorus the other characters become a sort of blur around Peck and Lil Bit and their relationship to each other and to the other characters is crystal clear. Obviously the opinions of the other characters are not important to P and B and they don't have too much of an effect on them. It's like they are faceless beings in P and B's story and while they do have lines and are a part of the story they aren't really essential. Their parts could be told through other ways like a monologue from Lil Bit or dialouge between P and B, so it's interesting that she chooses the Greek chorus to give theses characters their voice. 

Another choice that's interesting to me is why she has the "Uncle Peck Teaches Cousin Bobby How to Fish" scene somewhat randomly in the play. Why even include that in the show, what does that have to do with the rest of the story. I just realized as I was typing the title is we don't really know how he is a cousin to Lil Bit. Is Bobby Uncle Peck's son? That would be interesting if Uncle Peck had a kid with his wife and whether or not that effected how he was towards Lil Bit or if Lil Bit felt guilty about that, because she said she felt bad about doing all that to her aunt. You also wonder towards the end becuase their is no written proof whether or not Uncle Peck molested Bobby in the end. I'm still not sure why this scene is included. Any ideas?

The Conduct of Life

Maria Fornes seems to want to give the reader a very minimal amount of the lives of the characters and what's happening to them. She has to make a lot of choices about what to include or exclude in order to still tell the story fully.
A choice that I found puzzling was why she chose to have scenes focused around Olimpia rather than giving more back story for seemingly more important characters like Orlando or Leticia. Why was it so important to have Olimpia there, and to dedicate quite a bit of the play to her and what she has to say?
Of course, an obvious answer would be that is somewhat comedic relief to ease the extreme tension created in scenes that include rape and old men keeping young girls in their basement. But in class someone brought up a really great point that I had never even considered. Olimpia is Nina's voice. Without the scene between Olimpia and Nina we would have absolutely no background on the young girl. Because even though Leticia says she would jump in front of a bullet for a deer, she isn't willing to do so for Nina and after realizing she's in the basement doesn't do anything. Olimpia is the only one who cares, or is lonely enough to question and listen to Nina.
So Olimpia helps with the tension of the play and she also allows the reader to learn about Nina. Olimpia was my favorite character in this show. At first, probably because she is the only innocent person, other then Nina, and she is comedic. Now I love her more, because I realize that she is really the only thing Nina has in the world now and she, I think, wants to sort of protect her from everything. I like to think Olimpia either told on Leticia for shooting Orlando or she took the blame herself so Nina wouldn't have to.

Minimal Trifles

At first, thinking of a stripped down version of Trifles didn't make sense to me. It being a almost CSI-like story-line, taking away all the details seemed wrong. But, if you think about it, the show isn't about figuring out who did it. The show is about women of that time, being forced to spend their time inside cleaning and taking care of the house on their own, and having men tear them down as if it should be the easiest thing in the world because women are "made" to do it. 

The two other women in the show actually figure out what happened and hide it from the men because they understand how bad Mrs. Wright's life had been, and the fact that honestly deep down they may have though of doing the exact same thing. Being stuck in that daily life of being forced to do this and that, of being made to feel like you are ridiculous and lesser then the opposite gender, a person is bound to go crazy. I think making this show ultra minimalist would solidify that idea even further. If you think about it, to Mrs. Wright her home probably looked that way in her mind. There was no life in the home, no children, no pets, nothing. Her quilt wasn't being made to decorate, it was being made because it's what she was supposed to do. 

The minimalist approach would enhance the feeling that there really was nothing to the house, it's "lonesome and always was." 

Overtones and Undertones

The rules of the "small world" created in Overtones by Alice Gerstenberg are fairly clear throughout. There is a put together, controlled version of the character (Margaret and Harriet) and then there is the wild, primitive  strong, version (Hattie and Maggie). The distinction between the characters while first reading the script is a bit blurry, but becomes extremely clear as the play goes on.

Harriet only hears Hattie, but never sees her. Margaret hears Maggie, but never sees her. Margaret and Harriet see and speak to each other, making them the "real-life" versions of these characters. The fact that the well-mannered counterparts can not hear the other's primitive selves is shown multiple times throughout the play. However there are times when the veil between the two characters thins. For instance, there is a point before Margaret enters when Harriet calms Hattie and says she doesn't want Margaret to see her. Harriet also says that Hattie is stronger than her meaning Hattie voluntarily allows Harriet to control these situations.

A rule that was never clear to me however is whether or not the primitive halves speak to each other. There are instances when it seems they are responding to each other, but if that were the fact then Margaret and Harriet would know more about the other's primitive side. Perhaps the primitive selves are responding to the body language of the well-mannered selves and, being more instinctive and primal, they are able to pick up on real feelings rather then the facade that is put on.

I thought this was a thought provoking show and a good read because it has a huge commentary on how much of our own human nature we try to hide, and even though it was set in the past when manners, especially for women, were of a greater importance then they are now, we still tend to hide our more instinctive, dramatic sides in every day life.