Theater Review:

The topic under discussion in Golden West College’s new production “How I Learned to Drive” may be pedophilia, but a more accurate word may be obsession — a middle-aged man’s pitiful lust for his teenage niece that ultimately disrupts both lives.

This touchy subject is exceptionally well-handled by director Martie Ramm and her involving young cast. Paula Vogel’s entrancing play touches the heart without outraging the senses, and the Golden West performers display a commendable sensitivity in its production.

Vogel’s comedic drama, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, focuses on the naive young girl, who spends her teen years receiving driving lessons from her uncle, who’s about three decades her senior and married to her mother’s sister. There’s no physical force involved, only the uncle’s smooth-talking predator gradually moving in for a taste of the forbidden fruit.

Since the play, set in the 1960s, moves back and forth in chronology, the actress playing the central character must shift her attitudes and awareness accordingly, which can become confusing. At Golden West, these transitions are beautifully accomplished by Rebecca Wayne in a captivating performance.

Wayne’s character, known throughout as Li’l Bit — a nickname acquired at birth — is physically precocious, which attracts boys to her at an early age, though their efforts normally crash and burn.

She’s less comfortable with her extended family — a mother, aunt and two grandparents — than with the aunt’s war veteran husband, Uncle Peck, a recovering alcoholic in his 40s who provides the driving instructions.

This role, a touchy assignment for any actor, is skillfully handled by Patrick Rowley, who excels despite the playwright’s failure to fully sketch his background. We only know he was traumatized by a wartime experience and that he’s distanced himself from his loving wife, nicely enacted by Sarah Woodberry.

We also learn, early on, that he’s quite enamored of Li’l Bit and introduces some inappropriate groping into the behind-the-wheel tutelage. He’s a “gentleman,” however; he waits until she turns 18 before declaring his true intentions.

Solid supporting performances are offered by the girl’s mother (Nicole Blume), grandmother (Somayeh Foroushani) and grandfather (Marcus Russo), who, along with Woodberry, function with her teenage friends in a Greek chorus format.

The intimacy of the college’s Stage West Theater, being used while the Mainstage Theater undergoes renovation, further enhances the production, as do Terry Otto’s unit setting, Sigrid Hammer Wolf’s lighting effects and Susan Thomas Babb’s ’60s costuming. Mark Craig’s audio/video contributions — particularly the pop music background sounds — are equally effective.

“How I Learned to Drive” — which is Golden West’s entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival — is not calculated to shock or anger, despite its subject matter. Rather it is a captivating, and often humorous, account of a young girl’s coming of age under trying circumstances which receives a splendid production at Golden West College.

If You Go

What: “How I Learned to Drive”

Where: Golden West College Stage West Theater, 15744 Golden West St.

When: Closing performances at 7:30 tonight through Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $10 to $12

Call: (714) 895-8150