Paula Vogel

The play "is inspired by the real-life controversy surrounding the 1923 Broadway production of Sholem Asch's 'God of Vengeance', the love story of two women."

Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play How I Learned to Drive. A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Brown University, where she served as Adele Kellenberg Seaver Professor in Creative Writing, oversaw its playwriting program, and helped found the Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium.

She attended Bryn Mawr College from 1969 to 1970 and 1971 to 1972, and is a graduate of The Catholic University of America (BA, 1974) and Cornell University (MA, 1976; PhD, 2016).

A productive playwright since the late 1970s, Vogel first came to national prominence with her AIDS-related seriocomedy The Baltimore Waltz, which won the Obie Award for Best Play in 1992.

Her play The Oldest Profession was first read in February 1981 at the Hudson Guild, New York City, directed by Gordon Edelstein.

It was first produced by Theatre with Teeth, New York City, in January 1984, directed by Vogel.

It was then produced at Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco, in February 1986, directed by Kris Gannon.

The play premiered in April 1988 at Theatre Network in Edmonton, Canada and 25th Street Theatre in Saskatoon, Canada, directed by Tom Bentley-Fisher.

Subsequent productions include a reading at Brown University in April 1990 and a production by Company One in Hartford, Connecticut in October 1991.

Other notable plays include Desdemona, A Play About A Handkerchief (1993), The Oldest Profession (1981), And Baby Makes Seven (1984), Hot 'N Throbbing (1994), and The Mineola Twins (1996).

And Baby Makes Seven premiered Off-Broadway in April 1993, produced by the Circle Repertory Company at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

The cast featured Peter Frechette, Cherry Jones and Mary Mara.

Desdemona was first produced by the Bay Street Theatre Festival, Sag Harbor, New York in July 1993 and then was produced Off-Broadway by the Circle Repertory Company in November 1993.

The productions starred J. Smith-Cameron as Desdemona and Cherry Jones as Bianca.

These issues appear in Vogel's Desdemona (1994), where the narrative of a brothel is used to give female characters agency, or "give back to Desdemona power to accompany her activity."

Vogel's family, especially her late brother Carl Vogel, influences her writings.

She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned to Drive (1997), which examines the impact and echoes of child sexual abuse and incest.

The play premiered Off-Broadway in September 2004 in a Signature Theatre Company production.

From 2008 to 2012, Vogel was Eugene O'Neill Professor of Playwriting and department chair at the Yale School of Drama, as well as playwright in residence at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Vogel was born in Washington, D.C., to Donald Stephen Vogel, an advertising executive, and Phyllis Rita (Bremerman), a secretary for the United States Postal Service Training and Development Center.

Her father was Jewish, whereas her mother was Roman Catholic.

Second Stage Theatre produced How I Learned to Drive in February 2012, the first New York City production of the play in 15 years.

A Civil War Christmas was presented Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop, from November 13, 2012, to December 30, 2012.

The play was directed by Tina Landau and featured Alice Ripley and Bob Stillman.

The play was nominated for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Director (Landau) and Outstanding Costume Design, (Toni-Leslie James) and won the Lortel Award for Outstanding Lighting Design (Scott Zielinski).

Vogel's first play with music, Indecent, co-created and directed by Rebecca Taichman, premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre on October 2, 2015, and then ran at La Jolla Playhouse (San Diego) in November 2015.

Artists Repertory Theatre, located in Portland, Oregon, presented A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration, from November 22 to December 23, 2016.

Indecent was a finalist for the 2016 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama.

The play premiered Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, running from April 27, 2016 (previews), officially on May 17, 2016, and closing on June 19, 2016.

The play was nominated for the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Play.

Indecent premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on April 4, 2017, in previews, and opened April 18.

The Off-Broadway cast, featuring Adina Verson and Katrina Lenk, reprised their roles in the Broadway production, with additional cast including Ben Cherry, Andrea Goss, and Eleanor Reissa.

The play has music composed by Lisa Gutkin and Aaron Halva.

The play is being produced by Vineyard Theatre in association with La Jolla Playhouse and Yale Repertory Theatre.

This marks Vogel's Broadway debut.

Indecent was nominated for the 2017 Outer Critics Circle Awards: Outstanding New Broadway Play, Rebecca Taichman as Outstanding Director of a Play, Outstanding Lighting Design, Outstanding Projection Design (Tal Yarden), Outstanding Featured Actor In A Play (Richard Topol), and Outstanding Featured Actress In A Play (Katrina Lenk).

The play was nominated for the 2017 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Play and Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play (Christopher Akerlind).

Although no particular theme or topic dominates her work, she often examines traditionally controversial issues such as sexual abuse and prostitution.

Asserting that she "writes the play backwards," moving from emotional circumstances and character to craft narrative structure, Vogel says, "My writing isn't actually guided by issues.... I only write about things that directly impact my life."

Vogel adds, "If people get upset, it's because the play is working."