That simultaneous sense of hovering between time periods hangs over this solid revival of How I Learned -also its overdue Broadway debut at Manhattan Theatre Club. Through the clarity of her art and the thorniness of her empathic vision, Vogel bridges the Naughty Nineties and our #MeToo present. There are countless examples of its present day relevance. The real life parallels continue with Take Back the Night, the Clarence Thomas hearings, #MeToo, and the Anchorage Daily News winning a Pulitzer Prize for covering the high rate of sexual assault in Alaska. A year after its extended run Off Broadway in 1997, the Clinton Administration would become embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal : a President who took advantage of a twentyish intern, using the power of his office to deny it, his enemies trying to weaponize it. Conventional wisdom says that Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive was ahead of its time, yet How I Learned was also absolutely of its time, riding a tide of identity politics and increasing awareness of sexual harassment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |