How I Learned to Drive

I have spent some memorable evenings at this theater. My first was at the opening of Coyote on a Fence, a chilling evocation of prejudice, hatred and what it means to be human that premiered a few days after September 11; that evening provided a sense of affirmation, comfort and coming together in a deeply troubling time. Then there was the magical Cloud Tectonics, a play that felt like a kind of out-of-body, out-of-time experience. Steven Dietz's Inventing Van Gogh featured electric performances by Brett Aune, Christopher Reid and Chris Leo, and filled the mind with glorious, moving images. Equally inspiring was the form-busting TempOdyssey, by Dan Dietz (no relation to Steven). And who but Walton would have had the guts to give Edward Albee's The Goat — a play about a man in love with a barnyard beast — a straightforward, unapologetic production? Directed by Nagle Jackson, The Goat starred the luminously intelligent and sadly under-utilized Mare Trevathan, another of the city's major talents. (Trevathan worked as Curious's publicist for a while, and I could never understand why she was in the lobby greeting me on opening nights instead of preparing to go on stage.) Although there have been some Curious duds over the years — the occasional banal script or major piece of miscasting — they're more than balanced out by this marvelous theater's contribution to our city.