How I Learned to Drive

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. It was written and developed at the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska, with Molly Smith as artistic director.

The story follows the abusive yet supportive relationship between Li'l Bit and her Uncle Peck, from her pre-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.

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. 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. The script is a memory play told largely out of chronological order, with the first scene taking place in 1969 in a parking lot in rural Maryland. Li'l Bit is 17 years old and sitting in Uncle Peck's car. Peck unhooks her bra through her shirt, an act that Li'l Bit finds uncomfortable. Li'l Bit mentions she is graduating high school and going to a "fancy college" in the fall, while Uncle Peck touches and gropes her.

Li'l Bit breaks from this scene to describe her family to the audience. She explains her family's penchant for handing out nicknames based on genitalia, which is why she was branded with the alias Li'l Bit for life. This includes her alcoholic mother, the "titless wonder", her misogynistic grandfather "Big Papa", her submissive grandmother, and her young Cousin BB (Blue Balls). A typical family dinner in 1969 has Li'l Bit's family (played by the three Greek Chorus members) cracking jokes about how "well-endowed" she is. Peck is the only family member who supports Li'l Bit's dreams of going to school. Frustrated, Li'l Bit leaves the dinner after Grandfather goes too far with his insults. Peck's wife Mary (Li'l Bit's maternal aunt) asks him to comfort Li'l Bit, indicating that she (Mary) is ignorant of his abuse.

Li'l Bit reveals that she eventually lost her scholarship and was expelled from college because of a drinking problem. She spent most of that year driving on highways, marveling at how well Peck had taught her to drive. She then has a memory of 1968, where Uncle Peck takes her to a fancy Eastern Shore restaurant as a reward for passing her driver's test on the first try. Peck slyly orders oysters and martinis for Li'l Bit to consume, while the girl's mother gives less than stellar advice on drinking alcohol. Li'l Bit and her mother both become increasingly drunk on martinis. Peck carries the drunk Li'l Bit to his car, where they discuss the nature of their relationship. Li'l Bit drunkenly kisses her uncle and then retreats. Peck reiterates that they won't do anything until she wants to do it and that he will be patient. Li'l Bit begins to question the appropriateness of her relationship with her Uncle.

The Teenage Greek Chorus member briefly takes over to introduce a memory that is not Li'l Bit's. In a monologue, Uncle Peck gives the unseen Cousin BB a fishing lesson, where it is strongly implied that he uses this as a cover to molest the boy the same way he used driving to abuse Li'l Bit. Li'l Bit takes control once again to recount a conversation she had with her mother and grandmother about sex. 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. The adult Li'l Bit breaks the memory to explain that she went on to have a one-night stand with a high school senior when she was twenty-seven, recognizing the allure of a younger person that her uncle once felt. She then returns to the memory, which turns into an argument between Mother and the Grandparents. Unable to deal with that memory again, Li'l Bit changes the memory (as part of the driving metaphor, she likens this to changing stations on the radio) to when Uncle Peck first taught her how to start up a car. Showing that he does have genuine concern for Li'l Bit beyond her body, Peck gives reasonable advice on how to be safe on the road while also setting more boundaries on their relationship. Li'l Bit becomes confused as to how Peck could abuse her while still being helpful.

The next scene is a series of vignettes on Li'l Bit's school days in 1966, where she faced ridicule and sexual harassment from the other students on account of her large breasts. A boy asks her to dance at a school sock hop, but Li'l Bit refuses, believing he just wants to see her breasts "jiggle" while she dances.

The scenes shifts to 1965, where Uncle Peck takes provocative "pin-up" photos of then 13-year-old Li'l Bit. Aunt Mary takes the stage to defend her husband's actions to the audience. She claims that he is a good man, and that it is all Li'l Bit's fault for leading him on. She believes that her marriage can be saved as soon as her niece goes off to college.