THE MAMMARY PLAYS

Both of Vogel’s plays kept me interested with their humor and discussion of issues usually not faced during school. While Vogel dealt with more serious issues of pedophilia and molestation, she tossed in humor to make the ride enjoyable for the reader. These plays were unlike anything we have ever read at the Prep. Instead of a short story or novel with a main character and their battle, Vogel made Lil Bit in “How I Learned to Drive” a complex and misguided character. Although she seemed to be the victim of her scary Uncle Peck, not all of Peck’s actions were his own doing. Lil Bit provoked Peck by making him think that he could one day have her. I imagine that it might have been a difficult task to write a play based on a period of her life with many struggles, and the language, like “celestial orbs”, gives us a comical twist, even though we know that it was probably not a funny time of her life. Vogel overcomes her struggle in the end as Lil Bit finds herself and dismisses her miserable uncle from her life. Despite the fact that he was a predator, Uncle Peck and Lil Bit needed each other.
While “How I Learned to Drive” is a surprising love story, Vogel’s other play, “The Mineola Twins” showed the struggle of sibling rivalry, which is a common issue dealt with in biblical times. “The Mineola Twins” shows a conflict with physical aspects of maturing young ladies. Poor Myrna was betrayed by her twin sister Myra, and for some reason, Myra’s one mistake was unforgivable. I do not agree with the concept of not forgiving someone, and time heals all things. One would think that after about a decade, it would be acceptable to forgive your own sister even if she was not in a state to apologize.
I thoroughly enjoyed both of these plays and wish that our curriculum was more focused on literature that is more entertaining to the students.