What is the theme of How I Learned to Drive?
Memory and Trauma How I Learned to Drive explores the effects of trauma on memory and, indeed, of memory on trauma. Told retrospectively from the viewpoint of Li'l Bit, who was sexually exploited in her adolescence by Uncle Peck, the play presents the way trauma inhabits the memory of its principal character.
Who are the characters in How I Learned to Drive?
Uncle PeckLil' Bit's grandmoth...Lil' Bit's grandfatherBobbyLil' Bit's motherLil' BitHow I Learned to Drive/Characters
How long is the play How I Learned to Drive?
approximately 1 hour and 40 minutesHow I Learned to Drive is produced with Daryl Roth and Cody Lassen in association with the Vineyard Theatre. The runtime is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission. Due to the mature content in this production, it is recommended for those ages 13 and up. Opened Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
Who does Li L Bit take advantage of?
Uncle Peck is the only one in the family who takes Li'l Bit seriously when the others make fun of her, and she is the only one to take him seriously. His wife, Aunt Mary, says that she understands his suffering but that she does not talk to him when he is feeling bad.
How old is Uncle Peck?
seventeen years oldUncle Peck Quotes in How I Learned to Drive. It's 1969. And I am very old, very cynical of the world, and I know it all. In short, I am seventeen years old, parking off a dark lane with a married man on an early summer night.
Which way does the stage run time?
Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.
How I Learned What I Learned synopsis?
Originally performed by Wilson himself, How I Learned What I Learned is a heartfelt theatrical memoir—charting one man's journey of self-discovery through adversity, and what it means to be a black artist in America.
Why did Paula Vogel write learned to drive?
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Paula Vogel has said that "How I Learned to Drive" is about the gifts we receive from the people who hurt us.
What kind of relation is Uncle Peck?
The story follows the strained, sexual relationship between Li'l Bit and her aunt's husband, Uncle Peck, from her pre-adolescence through her teenage years into college and beyond. Using the metaphor of driving and the issues of pedophilia, incest, and misogyny, the play explores the ideas of control and manipulation.
How do I learn to drive 2012?
How I Learned to Drive - 2012 - Off-Broadway Tickets, News, Info & More. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE explores the complex relationship between Li'l Bit (Reaser) and her Uncle Peck (Butz), as a series of driving lessons progresses from innocence to something much darker.
The Good
As the chair of Yale's Playwriting Department, Paula Vogel hopes that each of her students will embrace originality. In an interview on YouTube, Vogel seeks playwrights who are "fearless and want to experiment, who want to make sure that they never write the same play twice." She leads by example; Vogel's work lives up to the same expectations.
The Not-So-Good
Because the play strives not to preach in the style of an "ABC After School Special," there's a sense of (intentional) moral ambiguity spread throughout the play.
The Playwright's Goals
According to a PBS interview, playwright Paula Vogel felt "dissatisfied looking at the movie-of-the-week approach," and decided to create How I Learned to Drive as an homage to Nabokov's Lolita, focusing on the female perspective instead of the male point-of-view.
Is Uncle Peck Really a Slime Ball?
Yes. He definitely is. However, he is not as invidious or as violent as the antagonists from movies such as The Lovely Bones or Joyce Carol Oats's story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" In each of those narratives, the villains are predatory, seeking to victimize and then eliminate the victim.
The Play
Last Updated on October 26, 2018, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 1137
Dramatic Devices
Last Updated on October 26, 2018, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 475
Overview
How I Learned to Drive is a play written by American playwright Paula Vogel. The play premiered on March 16, 1997, Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. Vogel received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. It was written and developed at the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska, with Molly Smith as artistic director.
The story follows the strained, sexual relationship between Li'l Bit and her aunt's husband, Uncle …
Plot synopsis
The play tells the story of a woman nicknamed Li'l Bit as she comes to terms with her sexually abusive relationship with her Uncle Peck throughout her adolescence. Aside from Li'l Bit and Uncle Peck, a Greek Chorus of three is on hand to play all of the other characters in their lives. The script is a memory play told largely out of chronological order, with the first scene taking place in 1969 in a parking lot in rural Maryland. Li'l Bit is 17 years old and sitting in Uncle Peck's car. Peck unho…
Background
Vogel wrote the play at the Perseverance Theatre, Alaska, where she was in residence. The theatre presented a first reading. Vogel was inspired by the novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: "...she was stunned to find herself sympathizing with the narrator, Humbert Humbert, who sexually molests an adolescent girl."
Vogel explained: "...she intended the play 'to get the audience to go along for a ride they wouldn'…
Productions
How I Learned to Drive premiered Off-Broadway in a production by the Vineyard Theatre (Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director; Jon Nakagawa, Managing Director) on May 6, 1997, and closed on April 19, 1998, at the Century Center For The Performing Arts. The play was directed by Mark Brokaw, set design was by Narelle Sissons, costume design was by Jess Goldstein, lighting design was by Mark McCullough, and the original sound design was by David van Tieghem. The play had been p…
Critical reception
Jill Dolan, in her review in Theatre Journal, wrote of the original 1997 Off-Broadway production: "Vogel’s choice to remember Li’l Bit and Peck’s relationship nonchronologically illustrates its complexity, and allows the playwright to build sympathy for a man who might otherwise be despised and dismissed as a child molester....Vogel builds the relationship in scenes sculpted with spare efficiency by Brokaw that crystallize moments of trust, disappointment, longing, and …
Awards and nominations
• The Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1998)
• Off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Awards (1997)
• Drama Desk Awards (1997)
• Obie Award (1996–1997)
External links
• How I Learned to Drive Internet Off-Broadway Database
• The Boston Phoenix interview, May 1998
• SET Groups Performance of "How I Learned to Drive", June 2010