It is all told using Pecks words and shows how he uses language and logic to make his intentions and actions seem perfectly natural and acceptable. This is a good monologue for an adult female. Using the metaphor of driving and the issues of pedophilia, incest, and misogyny, the play explores the ideas of control and manipulation. Now that shes old enough, says Lil Bit, she wishes she could ask him: who did it to you, Uncle Peck? Thumb through this funny one-woman show tofind scores of potential material for audition monologues. Li'l Bit. HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE is the story of a woman who learns the rules of the road and life fro. It addresses pedophilia, victim blaming, and misogyny, as well as the complexities of love and family. Next, the teenage chorus introduces a scene in which Peck takes Lil Bits young cousin, BB (standing for blue balls; the entire family is nicknamed after their genitalia), fishing. This is how the driving lessons begin. And Day is at her best when she embodies Lil Bits mother and Aunt Mary. Her grandfather, played by the male chorus, makes lewd jokes about the size of her breasts. Through non-chronological flashbacks,LilBit, now in her forties,uses learning to drive as a metaphor for her learning about sex, and about life, from her aunts husband,Peck, with whom she has a sexual relationship. As they lie there, Lil Bit feels conflicted and almost kisses Peck, drawing back at the last moment. [12], In 2012 Second Stage Theatre produced the first professional production of the play in New York City since its premiere in 1997. [9], In 2006 the play was produced by the T. Schreiber Studio and Theater in New York City. Ok. Little Mary Jane is walking through the woods, when all of a sudden this man who was hiding behind a tree jumps out, rips open Mary Janes blouse, and plunges his hands on her breasts. 35 David Morse and Mary-Louise Parker in Paula Vogel's play. [7], The play was produced at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in 1999, directed by Molly Smith. She then returns to the memory, which turns into an argument between Mother and the Grandparents. Li'l Bit breaks from this scene to describe her family to the audience. Lil Bit uses humor partly to help her deal with her experiences, but it also shows a certain amount desensitization (in this instance at least). The classmate says she wishes she had her problems and that she should go easy on the boy. Written by Polly Barbour An adult Li'l Bit tells the audience how she learned to drive. The contrast between the plays biting humor and the serious subject matter reflects the complicated relationship betweenLilBit and Peck. PDF downloads of all 1715 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. LilBit tells Peck she is struggling in school, that she knows why hes excited forher eighteenth birthday,and that she cant see him anymore. Even at this early age, Lil Bit is aware of a potential sexual element that she is keen to prevent. Lil Bits words are exactly the same as the ones she says in the hotel room, drawing a link between the start and the end of the relationship. The play premiered on March 16, 1997, Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. How I Learned to Drive - Acting Edition (Acting Edition for Theater Productions) [Paula Vogel, Vogel, Paula] on Amazon.com. Report DMCA. It took him seven years to drink himself to death, she says, losing his job, wife, and driving license along the way. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Li'l Bit offers to spend one day a week with Uncle Peck, so long as he never "crosses a line". The monologues below are originals written by me. 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. Peck makes sexually-suggestive comments toLilBit, but when she tells him to [b]e good (10), he feigns innocence. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. And yet How I Learned to Drive is also funny. [13], In 2012 University of Vermont's Department of Theatre produced the play with Vogel attending and addressing a symposium on women writers. Present-day Lil Bit then reveals that she flunked out of school because she was drinking too much and spent the rest of that time period driving through the night. His pointas Big Papais that Lil Bits only use is as a sexual object. Lil Bit is a year older and asks whether sex hurts. LilBit relents. He does so as a reward for being a good boybased on the fact that he hasnt drunk any alcohol for a week. This is being done for a class called improvisation as an acting techn. Mother tries to be helpful in explaining topics such as orgasms and consent, while Grandmother wails that Li'l Bit is too young to know about sex and uses scare tactics to keep her from doing it until she is married. Shes a knowing adult reflecting on the sexual abuse she endured, a shrinking child, a coquettish yet whip-smart 17 year old; Parker acts her way through decades of Lil Bits trauma with astute choreography. Morses performance brings out one of the many successes of the script: Vogel allows us to empathize with a despicable character without condoning his actions. Her mother wants to give her an honest account of the facts of life, but her god-fearing grandmother strongly disagrees. But of him specifically, not of being his lover. Remember? The play doesnt sink with the gravity of its subject matter; it finds moments of levity without minimizing the tragic parts of the story. The play opens with the present-day Lil Bit setting the scene. This monologue becomes dramatic in so far as, the man who is hanging on by a thread with his fragile devotion, reflects the way she is currently feeling about herself. Lil Bit plays the role of caregiver and sympathizer, underscoring the emotional complexity of her relationship with Peck. How I Learned to Drive. The small talk fades away. Many of the scenes, predictably, take place in cars, but Rachel Haucks understated scenic design doesnt have the upholstered car seats and steering wheel of, say, the Off Broadway road-trip dramedy Georgia Mertching Is Dead. Parker and Morse sit side by side facing the audience in retro dining chairs; through many scenes, including ones where theyre supposed to be kissing or touching, they remain seated and looking at the audience while their dialogue and gestures fill in the blanks. This shows that Lil Bits treatment was part of a sustained campaign of objectification by her classmateseven the female ones. The sequence with which he loses his life over seven years deliberately culminates in his drivers license, underscoring how important the driving lessons were as an opportunity for him to get close to his niece. I wonder how the air in the room moved the first time Parker and Morse sat onstage, the first time Peck asked, from the Buick parked in a dark lane on an early summer night, to unbutton his nieces shirt. Balmy evenings are fraught with danger; seductions happen anywhere. Seeking 2 Actor Team for Spring Lil Bit is at college, away from the family home. Lil Bit categorically doesnt want to be defined by her appearance, wanting to use her mind in life rather than her body. to learn more about this monologue from How I Learned to Drive and unlock other amazing theatre resources! The acceleration of the action continues. Explaining that sometimes to tell a secret, you first have to teach a lesson, she introduces the first flashback, which takes place in 1969 when she is seventeen. As Lil Bit storms outside, Peck comes out to comfort her. Lil Bit has clearly been concerned about Pecks motives for doing the shoot, and here he forgets his story. Struggling with distance learning? It also illuminates how women are molded and manipulated not only by their abusers but by society at-large. Complete your free account to request a guide. Start: _(Stirring. Increasingly desperate, Peck asks that she lie down with him on the bed and that they just hold one another. Lil Bit, half wanting to run, half wanting to get it over with, half wanting to be held by him, agrees to his suggestion. Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse have returned to Paula Vogel's 1997 Pulitzer-winning play about sexual abuse for its Broadway debut. The off-stage voice indicates a shift in the action, calling out: . Excited and nervous, she takes up the drivers seat but cant reach the pedals. How I Learned To Drive Monologue. An 11-year-old Li'l Bit fights with her mother about going on a seven-hour car trip to the beach with Uncle Peck. By the end of the scene, he is asking if he can kiss her breasts, at her hesitation,telling her, Dont make a grown man beg (11). Her mother relents but tells her that if anything does happen it will be Lil Bits fault. The relationship is inherently unequal and unstable, with Lil Bit feeling nothing of the loyalty and commitment to Peck that he imagines. During a family dinner in1969, her mother, grandmother, and grandfather discuss the size of her breasts, her grandfather teasing her with crude, sexualizing comments. Like youre being looked at all the time? Pecks gendering of the car means that he sees men as the drivers and women as the vehicle: that is, men are the active agents of control and women are the passive recipients, the objects. The spirit of Peck seems to be sitting in the back. But really, shes just ashamedand, in part, concerned for his wellbeing. She cant forget what happened with Peck, but through better understand her trauma, she canliterallymove on. He also reminds the viewer that his sexual desires are specifically nubile, implying that he prefers a thirteen-year-old body over a twenty-year-olds (which itself is a youthful age). The mother and grandmother have an argument in which it is revealed that the mother is resentful for her grandmothers unwillingness to provide guidance about sex to her when she was younger. Peck carries the drunk Li'l Bit to his car, where they discuss the nature of her relationship. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. The official-sounding voice announces: You and the Reverse Gear. This takes the action back to 1965, in which a thirteen-year-old Lil Bit is being photographed by Peck in his basement. With this technique, Vogel underscores both Pecks constant presence in Lil Bits mind and the way memory has its own logic. This is contradicted by the same character later advocating for Lil Bit to be told more about the facts of life. The teenage chorus/grandmothers account of sex with Lil Bits grandfather paints sex as something animalistic and primal, not allowing for a consideration of tenderness or love. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, half wanting to run, half wanting to get it over with, half wanting to be held by him. It took my uncle seven years to drink himself to death. Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. Vogels script creates its own piercing language for assault, harassment and all the ways our society reinforces regressive ideas about gender, sex and consent. It implies an acceptance of the status quo, because thats just. Read more. Theres a strong sense of coercion here, too. [12] Ebelin Ortiz directed. Pecks actions towards Lil Bit reverberate through time. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. It has the air of a thesis, implying wisdom and knowledge. The audience is then given a sense of Lil Bits time at high school. The teenage chorus line reflects societys role in supporting gender stereotypes. Monologues Monologues from shows associated with Paula Vogel Start: You begin to hope that the wait. When Peck proposes to her,LilBit reiterates that she cant see him. Does she perhaps even envy the faith he is able to use to hang on? Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1715 titles we cover. The Teenage Greek Chorus, acting as young Li'l Bit, does so. Arguably Lil Bits anger subsides here not because she is glad of Pecks amorous feelings, but because they closely map on to her longing for a father figure. Key Information Show How I Learned to Drive Character Lil' Bit Gender Female Age Range Child, Early Teen, Young Adult, Adult Style Dramatic Act/Scene 1 Time & Place 1960's, Maryland Length Medium Time Period Contemporary Show Type Play Tags uncle niece molestation abuse driving confusion dance sock hop girl friend social awkward breasts Context The Greek Chorus lists the letters and gifts that Peck sends her, with each note counting down how many days are left until her 18th birthday. She is also firmly entrenched in her gender role. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. As Emilys spirit passes on to the other side, she is compelled to take one last hard look at life as a mortal. So the warnings about idling and using the reverse gear, which function as clever subtitles announcing the scenes, become subtly tied to the ways Lil Bit fits those years of assault into her memory. This also introduces the idea of Pecks suppressed vulnerability relating to alcohol. In the opening scene,LilBit, age17, and her uncle,Peck,are sitting in the front seat of his car for their weekly get-together. Rebecca Gilman is an incredibly talented writer whose ideas challenge our assumptions and reveal the darker side of human nature. Lil Bits kiss shows her conflicted her feelings. The action switches to a driving lesson given to Lil Bit by Peck. The line represents the point of transgression which, of course, Peck is already crossing. "[7], Ben Brantley, in his The New York Times review of the original 1997 production, wrote: "The scrambled chronology, which suggests the ways memories attack by stealth and out of sequence, makes it harder for the audience to form conventional judgments. Framing the narrative like this underlines the extent to which Lil Bits trauma and memories are linked to learning to drivewith her Uncle Peck. How i learned to drive is a memory play that deals with issues of victimization, sexual abuse, incest, and alcoholism. Flash forward to 1969, towards the end of the relationship. 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. A moody Peck is doing the dishes in the kitchen, conversing with Lil Bit. This is the performance of a monologue from Paula Vogel's play How I Learned to Drive. It has pseudoscientific implications, gesturing towards Darwinism and survival of the fittest. Click here to read monologue on Google Books. His choice of words is usually careful in this way. Viewing Peck through the prism of a myth shows that she is attaining an increasing sense of distance from the relationship and its traumatic effects. Ultimately,How I Learned to Driveis about the effects ones past has on ones present and future, how people are flawed and their souls ambiguous, and how one can grow from traumaor succumb to it. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. She describes that moment as the last day I lived in my body. Now almost thirty-five, she is glad to believe in things that her younger self didnt, like family and forgiveness. She still doesnt do anything that jiggles; the closest thing she feels to flight in the body is to drive. But she intends this as an excuse for Peck, instead placing the burden of responsibility solely on Lil Bitwhich is obviously incorrect. The runtime is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission. PERFORMANCE FEE: $130 per performance. Instead, she has to negotiate her relationship with them and take control (as portrayed figuratively in her checks with the car). Bookmark. Vogel received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. The script calls for two younger actors to play Lil Bits classmates and also, in a sly subversion, her grandparents, but Gold and Myers make stiff impersonations of elders. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The play "How I learned to drive" is written by the playwright Paula Vogel and won her a Pulitzer award for drama in 1998. Mother is wary of him, but finally relents, telling Li'l Bit that she holds her responsible for any misdeeds. Li'l Bit begins to question the appropriateness of her relationship with her Uncle. 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