“How I Learned to Drive” by Paula VogalA Critical Analysis

This is an extremely and exceptionally disturbing play. With the mindset that this play was about driving, the intense sexual nature of the script caught me off-guard during my first reading. With the knowledge of its true content, the second reading became more enjoyable as I realized its value as a way to teach important lessons in life, not driving.
Paula Vogel uses a broken structure of scenes, acts, and flashbacks to portray the confusion of L’il Bits child and teenage life. She has succeeded in her attempt to open the doors of empathy to the main characters, and also used a language suitable for such an unruly play. However, the somewhat cunning structure of her play seemed to distract attention from the content of the script by placing too much effort into the setting. This is not to say that the setting is not important. On the contrary, the setting is essential to this play. Non-the-less, if the main focus had been on the script and not so much on the surroun...