How I Learned To Drive
Encyclopedia
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.
The story follows the strained, sexual relationship between Li'l Bit and her aunt's husband, Uncle Peck, from her 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.
during the 1960s with a large extended family: her mother, who became pregnant at a young age; her grandmother, a God-fearing former child-bride; her ignorant, sexist
grandfather; her Uncle Peck, who has been affected by experiences in combat and is a recovering alcoholic; and Aunt Mary, who is in denial of her husband's behavior.
In 1962, when Li'l Bit is 11, Uncle Peck gives her a driving lesson, during which he molests her. Li'l Bit is too young to understand what has happened and, while her mother suspects that Peck has an unhealthy interest in his niece, she does nothing about it.
Years pass and Li'l Bit enters puberty
. Though she is quite intelligent, her classmates recognize her only for her large breasts. Peck continues to molest her, at one point using his amateur photo studio to take provocative pictures of her. Though he makes her uncomfortable, Peck is the only member of her family who is nice to her and supportive of her plans to go to college. He continues to give Li'l Bit driving lessons, and when she drives she develops a feeling of control that she does not have in her home life.
Peck attempts to convince Li'l Bit to have sex with him, but Li'l Bit rejects his advances, albeit reluctantly; since they are both "outsiders" in their family, she feels an odd kinship with him. Li'l Bit goes to college, and is surprised to receive gifts from Uncle Peck in the mail, along with letters counting down to her eighteenth birthday.
When she turns eighteen, she confronts Uncle Peck. He has been hoping to finally have sex with her now that she is a legal adult, but more than that, he wants her to marry him. Li'l Bit refuses and permanently severs their relationship.
Narrating as an adult, Li'l Bit reveals that she was eventually expelled from college and that Uncle Peck drank himself to death. Li'l Bit admits that she wishes that she could ask Uncle Peck about his life. She wonders who violated him to make him this way. This gives her a sense of forgiveness for his wrongdoings. She concludes that he did give her something valuable: the freedom she feels only when she drives.
, the set design was by Narelle Sissons, the costume design was by Jess Goldstein, the lighting design was by Mark McCullough, the original sound design was by David van Tieghem, and the production stage manager was Thea Bradshaw Gillies. The cast was as follows:
Bruce Davison
and Molly Ringwald
later took over the lead roles.
The Vineyard Theatre production, in association with Daryl Roth and Roy Gabay, moved to the Century Theatre in April, 1997. The Male Greek Chorus was played by Christopher Duva.
A 1997/98 season production at CENTERSTAGE in Baltimore (Center Stage
) was directed by Barry Edelstein
.
A 1998/99 season production at the Arena Stage
in Washington, D.C. was directed by Molly Smith
.
A 1999 production at the Mark Taper Forum
in Los Angeles featured Molly Ringwald
and Brian Kerwin
.
L.A. Theatre Works has produced an audio performance of the play, starring Glenne Headly
, Randall Arney, Joy Gregory, Paul Mercier, and Rondi Reed. Published on CD, ISBN 1-58081-188-4.
Second Stage Theatre
recently announced that they would produce the first New York City production of the play in 15 years as a part of their 2011-2012 season. However, the play was produced by the T. Schreiber Studio and Theater in Manhattan from March 2 to April 2, 2006.
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel is an American playwright and university professor. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive.-Early years:...
. The play premiered on March 16, 1997 off-broadway at the Vineyard Theatre
Vineyard Theatre
The Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Its first production was in 1981...
. Vogel received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
for the work.
The story follows the strained, sexual relationship between Li'l Bit and her aunt's husband, Uncle Peck, from her adolescence through her teenage years into college and beyond. Using the metaphor of driving and the issues of pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
, and misogyny
Misogyny
Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...
, the play explores the ideas of control and manipulation.
Plot synopsis
Li'l Bit grows up in rural MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
during the 1960s with a large extended family: her mother, who became pregnant at a young age; her grandmother, a God-fearing former child-bride; her ignorant, sexist
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
grandfather; her Uncle Peck, who has been affected by experiences in combat and is a recovering alcoholic; and Aunt Mary, who is in denial of her husband's behavior.
In 1962, when Li'l Bit is 11, Uncle Peck gives her a driving lesson, during which he molests her. Li'l Bit is too young to understand what has happened and, while her mother suspects that Peck has an unhealthy interest in his niece, she does nothing about it.
Years pass and Li'l Bit enters puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
. Though she is quite intelligent, her classmates recognize her only for her large breasts. Peck continues to molest her, at one point using his amateur photo studio to take provocative pictures of her. Though he makes her uncomfortable, Peck is the only member of her family who is nice to her and supportive of her plans to go to college. He continues to give Li'l Bit driving lessons, and when she drives she develops a feeling of control that she does not have in her home life.
Peck attempts to convince Li'l Bit to have sex with him, but Li'l Bit rejects his advances, albeit reluctantly; since they are both "outsiders" in their family, she feels an odd kinship with him. Li'l Bit goes to college, and is surprised to receive gifts from Uncle Peck in the mail, along with letters counting down to her eighteenth birthday.
When she turns eighteen, she confronts Uncle Peck. He has been hoping to finally have sex with her now that she is a legal adult, but more than that, he wants her to marry him. Li'l Bit refuses and permanently severs their relationship.
Narrating as an adult, Li'l Bit reveals that she was eventually expelled from college and that Uncle Peck drank himself to death. Li'l Bit admits that she wishes that she could ask Uncle Peck about his life. She wonders who violated him to make him this way. This gives her a sense of forgiveness for his wrongdoings. She concludes that he did give her something valuable: the freedom she feels only when she drives.
Productions
How I Learned to Drive was first produced by Vineyard Theatre (Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director; Jon Nakagawa, Managing Director) in New York City in February 1997. It was directed by Mark BrokawMark Brokaw
Mark Brokaw is a stage director. He won the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Director of a Play for How I Learned to Drive.Brokaw was raised in Aledo, Illinois and graduated from the Yale Drama School...
, the set design was by Narelle Sissons, the costume design was by Jess Goldstein, the lighting design was by Mark McCullough, the original sound design was by David van Tieghem, and the production stage manager was Thea Bradshaw Gillies. The cast was as follows:
- Li'l Bit - Mary-Louise ParkerMary-Louise ParkerMary-Louise Parker is an American actress, known for her current lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds portraying Nancy Botwin, for which she has received several nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2006...
- Uncle Peck - David MorseDavid Morse (actor)David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...
- Male Greek ChorusGreek chorusA Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
- Michael ShowalterMichael ShowalterMichael English Showalter is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is a member of the sketch comedy trio Stella. Showalter first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's The State, which aired from 1993 to 1995... - Female Greek Chorus - Johanna Day
- Teenage Greek Chorus - Kerry O'Malley
- Greek chorus leaderCoryphaeusCoryphaeus, or Koryphaios , and often corypheus in English. In Attic drama, the coryphaeus was the leader of the chorus. Hence the term is used for the chief or leader of any company or movement...
- Ethan Atkins
Bruce Davison
Bruce Davison
Bruce Davison is an American actor and director.-Early life:Davison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Marian E. , a secretary, and Clair W. Davison, a musician, architect, and draftsman for the Army Engineers. His parents divorced when he was three years old. He was raised by his...
and Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
later took over the lead roles.
The Vineyard Theatre production, in association with Daryl Roth and Roy Gabay, moved to the Century Theatre in April, 1997. The Male Greek Chorus was played by Christopher Duva.
A 1997/98 season production at CENTERSTAGE in Baltimore (Center Stage
Center Stage (theater)
Center Stage is the state theater of Maryland and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater. Center Stage was founded in 1963 as a regional playhouse....
) was directed by Barry Edelstein
Barry Edelstein
Barry Edelstein is an American theatre director, author, and educator.- Biography :Edelstein was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on March 11, 1965, and grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He graduated Fair Lawn High School in 1982. He graduated Tufts University summa cum laude in 1986 and won a...
.
A 1998/99 season production at the Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
in Washington, D.C. was directed by Molly Smith
Molly Smith
Molly Smith is the artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington D.C.. She has been focused on new play development for the past 30 years while at Arena Stage as well as Perseverance Theatre on Douglas Island in Juneau, Alaska, the theater she founded and led for 19 years...
.
A 1999 production at the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles featured Molly Ringwald
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
and Brian Kerwin
Brian Kerwin
Brian Kerwin is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kerwin won the Theatre World Award in 1988 for the off-Broadway play Emily. His Broadway theatre credits include the 1997 revival of The Little Foxes and the Elaine May comedy After the Night and the Music in 2005...
.
L.A. Theatre Works has produced an audio performance of the play, starring Glenne Headly
Glenne Headly
Glenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...
, Randall Arney, Joy Gregory, Paul Mercier, and Rondi Reed. Published on CD, ISBN 1-58081-188-4.
Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...
recently announced that they would produce the first New York City production of the play in 15 years as a part of their 2011-2012 season. However, the play was produced by the T. Schreiber Studio and Theater in Manhattan from March 2 to April 2, 2006.
Awards and nominations
- The Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1998)
- Off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Awards (1997)
- Outstanding play
- Outstanding Director (Mark Brokaw)
- Outstanding Actress (Mary-Louise Parker)
- Outstanding Actor (David Morse)
- Drama Desk Awards (1997)
- Outstanding play
- Outstanding Actor in a play
- Outstanding Director of a play
- Obie AwardObie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
(1996–1997) - Performance, David Morse
- Performance, Mary-Louise Parker
- Direction
- Playwrighting
- Outer Critics Circle AwardOuter Critics Circle AwardThe Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
- Outstanding Off-Broadway play
- New York Drama Critics Award
- Best play