How I Learned To Drive: The Post

Ok so, I'll jump on the, " I liked, How I Learned to Drive more, compared to Conduct of Life" bandwagon. Because honestly, even though the subject matter is very similar in both, Conduct of Life is so much harder to stomach in comparison to How I Learned to Drive. So in regard to Dr. Fletcher's first question(which we touched on in class today): I think it is absolutely paramount for a playwright to at times, remind the audience that indeed the overall message the reality is, we're still an audience in a theater watching a play. This is especially important when your subject matter contains characters that exhibit a socially unacceptable behavior. I might even be so bold and assume that this is why such a dramaturgical choice was made to depict a chorus that serves as a reminder of the theaters of old. This element of familiarity creates a general reassurance amongst the populace that even though the subject material is socially unacceptable (and for good reason) it opens the audience up to accepting the characters for who they are and not judge them souly on their actions. The addition of the chorus also sets the tone of the play right from the begginning and show the audience that it is ok to enjoy elements of the play, even when some of the character's actions are very inappropriate.
In response to Question 2: If I had to pick a moment in the play that seemed juxtaposed to the pattern established in the rest of the play; it would have to be the scene in which Peck takes cousin Bobby to go fishing. The reason I chose this scene in particular is because Vogel makes an interesting dramaturgical choice to stick this monologe within the play, just as the audience begins to get a sense of what the character of Peck is all about. After this scene you get the impression that he may not be an "ok" guy after all and you start to question why you had any empathy towards him to begin with(at least for me). Vogal creates a very powerful sense of dramatic irony in this scene leaving the audience to question what Peck's true intentions are and the result is a very subtle yet ambiguously tense situation. I think it's also important to note that Vogal chooses to take the chorus out of the picture(for the most part) in order to keep focus on the character of Peck in this scene. I think this choice puts the audience back into a more grounded mindset by taking the "play element" out of the scene and makes the mood slightly unnerving, especially towards the end in which we're given the impression that Peck may be planning to molest the boy. Obviously the subject matter here is cringeworthy, but I think it speaks to Vogel's writing talent that this play is more well received than oh, say, Conduct of Life for instance.