Have you ever wanted to run away from your own life? In Becky’s New Car, now playing at Theatre 40, playwright Steven Dietz takes that midlife fantasy and drives it straight into a quirky, comedic romp filled with detours, breakdowns, and a few surprisingly sharp turns.

Becky Foster (a charming and wonderfully grounded performance by Jenn Robbins) is a middle-aged, overworked car dealership manager who doesn’t exactly dislike her life—she’s just… stuck in it. Her devoted but predictable husband Joe (Grinnell Morris, perfectly sturdy and sweet) is content eating take-out salads in front of the TV. Her 26-year-old son Chris (the hilariously intense Riley Introcaso) is a psychology grad student who prefers psychoanalytic jargon to getting a job. And Becky? Well, Becky’s just wondering if this is all there is.

At work, Steve (John Combs), Becky’s angst-ridden co-worker – who lost his wife in a hiking accident and cannot stop reliving (and retelling) the story of his loss, makes her job even more mundane. Enter Walter Flood (Christopher Franciosa), a wealthy widower who mistakes Becky for a widow herself and offers her a glimpse of a different life—one of easy luxury, attention, and escape. We aren’t sure why, but Becky doesn’t correct him. In fact, she leans right into the fantasy, juggling her comfortable suburban life with an increasingly tangled second one. Lies pile up, identities blur, and Becky’s little road trip of self-discovery starts to careen into oncoming traffic.

There’s a lot happening here, and Dietz keeps all the cylinders firing smoothly through the first act, with glib humor, snappy one-liners and little morsels of insight. But what sets this contemporary farce apart is its playfulness with theatrical conventions: Not only is Becky forever addressing the audience like we’re old friends, she enlists them with little tasks, like holding onto toilet paper or zipping up her dress. There are one or two backfires after intermission, as the playwright attempts to navigate his way through the giddily preposterous traffic jam of characters and situations, but director Cate Caplin leans into this meta-theatricality goofiness with a breezy, confident touch, keeping the energy high and the pacing brisk, even when the story veers into more serious territory. Any of the script’s rough edges are easy to forgive because the heart and humor carry the evening.

The gorgeous Isabella DiBernardino as Kenni, Walter’s daughter, brings a no-nonsense edge, while the always fascinating Kristin Towers-Rowles is a delight as Ginger, Walter’s friend who has been burned by wealth and now sees the absurdity in privilege, even as she is jealous of Walter’s new flame, Becky.

Jeff G. Rack’s cleverly flexible set easily toggles between Becky’s home, the car dealership, and Walter’s upscale world, while Brandon Baruch’s lighting and Nick Foran’s sound design subtly support Becky’s dual lives.

What makes Becky’s New Car so winning isn’t just the wacky plot twists or the audience gags—it’s the genuine ache at its center. Becky’s fantasy isn’t about cars or cash; it’s about feeling seen and choosing her own road. The play leaves us wondering: is it ever too late to take a different exit? It’s a smart, sweet, and slightly subversive ride, and at Theatre 40, it’s in very good hands.

photos by Gabe Tejeda

Becky’s New Car
Theatre 40
Mary Levin Cutler Theatre, 241 S. Moreno, on the campus of Beverly Hills High School
accessed via the driveway at the intersection of Durant and Moreno Drives
Thurs-Sat at 7:30; Sun at 2
ends on June 15, 2025
for tickets ($38), call 310.364.0535 or visit Theatre 40