tracker
My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!
Home For You Chat My Shows (beta) Register/Login Games Grosses
Paula Vogel Headshot
Get Paula Vogel Alerts

Paula Vogel

BIO

Paula Vogel is Playwright in Residence at Yale Repertory Theatre. Indecent was commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival's American Revolutions and Yale Repertory Theatre in close collaboration with director Rebecca Taichman, and co-produced by La Jolla Playhouse. Indecent was developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2013 and has been produced at Yale Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and the Vineyard Theatre. Her play How I Learned To Drive received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play, as well as her second Obie Award. Other plays include Don Juan Comes Home From Iraq, The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot 'N' Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession, and A Civil War Christmas. In 2004-05, she was the playwright in residence at New York's Signature Theatre. TCG has published four books of her work: "The Mammary Plays," "The Baltimore Waltz and Other Plays," "The Long Christmas Ride Home," and "A Civil War Christmas." Most recent awards include the Theatre Hall of Fame, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dramatists Guild, and the 2015 Thornton Wilder Award. She is honored to have two awards to emerging playwrights named after her: the Paula Vogel Award, created by the American College Theatre Festival in 2003, and the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, given annually by the Vineyard Theatre since 2007. Ms. Vogel won the 2004 Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Obie for Best Play in 1992, the Rhode Island Pell Award in the Arts, the Hull-Warriner Award, The Laura Pels Award, the Pew Charitable Trust Senior Award, a Guggenheim, an AT&T New Plays Award, the Fund for New American Plays, the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center Fellowship, several National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, the McKnight Fellowship, and the Bunting Fellowship from Radcliffe College. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was recently awarded a Thirtini from 13P in New York. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, the Double UCross Colony, as well as Yaddo. She has taught for 24 years at Brown University and for five years at Yale School of Drama where she was the Eugene O'Neill Professor of Playwriting. She is honored by Philadelphia Young Playwrights and Quiara Hudes, who is curating the Paula Vogel Mentors Project.

Photos

Productions

 
[Broadway, 2022]
Writer

Writing

Playwright
Playwright
Playwright
Playwright
Author

Awards and Nominations

Drama Desk Awards - 2024 - Outstanding Play

Paula Vogel, Mother Play

Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2024 - Outstanding New Broadway Play

Paula Vogel, Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions

Tony Awards - 2024 - Best Play

Paula Vogel, Mother Play


winner
- 2017 - Legend of Off-Broadway Honorees

Paula Vogel

Drama Desk Awards - 2017 - Outstanding Play

Paula Vogel, Indecent


winner
New York Drama Critics Circle Awards - 2017 - Special Citation

Paula Vogel


winner
Obie Awards - 2017 - Lifetime Achievement

Paula Vogel

The Lortels - 2017 - Outstanding Play

Paula Vogel, Indecent

Tony Awards - 2017 - Best Play

Paula Vogel, Indecent


winner
The Pulitzer Prize - 1998 - The Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive


winner
Drama Desk Awards - 1997 - Outstanding New Play

Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive


winner
New York Drama Critics Circle Awards - 1997 - Best Play

Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive

Videos

News


GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY & More Lead Atlanta's Winter 2026 Top Theatre Shows
by Team BWW - Feb 5, 2026

Atlanta is never lacking outstanding theatre, whether epic Broadway shows, engrossing dramas or bold fringe offerings. BroadwayWorld is rounding up our top recommended theatre every month. Selections for February 2026 include
Bill Rauch To Be Presented With Harvard Arts Medal
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Feb 5, 2026

Bill Rauch ’84, acclaimed theater director and artistic director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York (PAC NYC), will be the recipient of the 2026 Harvard Arts Medal.
Gara Roda dirige a Paula Malia en la lectura de EL VALS DE BALTIMORE de Paula Vogel
by Adela González Pérez - Jan 21, 2026

Parte del equipo creativo de ÀNIMA se reúne junto al actor Albert Bolea para abordar la obra de Paula Vogel, coincidiendo con la visita de la prestigiosa dramaturga.
2026 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Judges and Key Dates Revealed
by Stephi Wild - Jan 13, 2026

The 2026 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced the Judging Panel for the 48th Annual Award. The Winner of the 2026 Prize will be announced on February 26 in a special invitation-only celebration at London's Royal Court Theatre.
Jim Parsons, Deborah Cox, Frankie Grande and Constantine Rousouli Join TITANIQUE Broadway Cast
by Stephi Wild - Jan 8, 2026

Titanique has announced some of its Broadway cast! Alongside Marla Mindelle, who will lead the Broadway company as Celine Dion, are Jim Parsons, Deborah Cox, Frankie Grande and Constantine Rousouli.
Jeremy O. Harris Released After Arrest in Japanese Airport for Alleged Drug Smuggling
by Stephi Wild - Dec 9, 2025

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris has been released after spending three weeks in custody on suspicion of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into Japan. Learn more here!
Jeremy O. Harris Arrested in Japanese Airport for Alleged Drug Smuggling
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Dec 5, 2025

Jeremy O. Harris was arrested last month at an airport in Japan on suspicion of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country. Harris was stopped by a customs officer who discovered MDMA.
Gulfshore Playhouse to Present the Inaugural NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL: A Celebration of New Voices in American Theatre
by A.A. Cristi - Dec 2, 2025

Gulfshore Playhouse will launch of the Next Wave Festival, a dynamic new play festival showcasing cutting-edge theatrical voices from across the country. Taking place January 31 - February 1, 2026.
Straphanger Theater Ensemble To Present HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE At Westbury Arts
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 26, 2025

Straphanger Theater Ensemble will present Paula Vogel's HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE this December at Westbury Arts. Directed by Tarmo Kirsimae, the production will feature Michele Brisco as Li’l Bit and John Torres as Uncle Peck.
Bess Wohl, Jen Silverman and More Named as Finalists for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 24, 2025

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has revealed this year's finalists for the prestigious international playwriting award- the largest and oldest award recognising women+ writers for plays of outstanding quality written for the English-speaking theatre. 
Review: THE MOTHER PLAY: A PLAY IN FIVE EVICTIONS at Studio Theatre
by David Friscic - Nov 19, 2025

The autobiographical world of playwright Paula Vogel comes alive in the illuminating and fragilely evocative “tone poem” of a play entitled The Mother Play at the Studio Theatre. This very moving and occasionally caustic play explores all the hard issues of life in a family—such as death, illness, financial problems and –above all—the dislocation that occurs from constant moving to new locations. (Indeed, the subtitle of the play is “ A Play in Five Evictions”). The Herman family is composed of a very peripatetic mother who has survived the onslaught of a divorce and unwanted children, but she passes so much rage onto her two children, and she drowns herself in martinis.
ArtsFairfax Funds 13 Local Organizations Through Project Support Grants
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 14, 2025

As part of the nonprofit's funding opportunities, ArtsFairfax awarded $160,000 in Project Support Grants to 13 local arts organizations to encourage wider participation in the arts through unique cultural programming.
Hudson Valley Shakespeare to Celebrate 10th Anniversary Community Bake-Off with Six New Plays
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 5, 2025

Hudson Valley Shakespeare has revealed the six plays selected for their 10th annual Community Bake-Off, following the theme of “Wired for Connection.”
Wake Up With BroadwayWorld November 3, 2025- PUNCH Closes on Broadway and More
by - Nov 3, 2025

Wake up to all the latest buzz from the theatre world! Last night, the starry new play Little Bear Ridge Road opened on Broadway with Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock taking the stage—get an inside look at the celebration and check out photos from the curtain call.
Ro Reddick, Keenan Tyler Oliphant and Ato Blankson-Wood to Receive Vineyard Theatre Awards
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Oct 31, 2025

Vineyard Theatre has revealed the recipients of the 2025-2026 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award and Colman Domingo Award and the 2025-2027 Susan Stroman Directing Award.
The History of Feminist Plays That Came Before LIBERATION
by Jennifer Ashley Tepper - Oct 28, 2025

As the fight for women to have equal rights and opportunities has evolved, so has the presence of plays telling these stories. When I wrote my book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out, the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers, I researched many musicals that are in this genre as well.
Center Theatre Group Reveals 2025/26 LA Writers' Workshop and LA Artist Residencies
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Oct 24, 2025

Center Theatre Group is offering a slate of artistic programming that helps identify and support the next generation of great plays and playwrights. Learn more!
3Arts Commits Over $1M In Unrestricted Grants to Over 100 Artists
by Stephi Wild - Oct 9, 2025

3Arts has announced the 17 recipients of this year's 3Arts Awards. The organization will honor the new recipients next month at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Harold Clurman Lab Theater and Karakuva to Present Staged Reading of ROAR OF THE GRAIN
by A.A. Cristi - Oct 8, 2025

The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company, in association with Karakuva Productions, will present a stage reading of Roar of the Grain, a new play by Satu inspired by true events during the Winter War between Finland and the USSR.
PALM SPRINGS YOUNG PLAYWRIGHT’S FESTIVAL Announces Call for Submissions
by Kay Kudukis - Oct 8, 2025

The Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival (PSYPF), which promotes and encourages theatrical creative writing among elementary, middle, and high school students within Riverside County, has announced that it is now accepting submissions for the 9th Annual Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many shows has Paula Vogel written?

Paula Vogel has written 11 shows including The Baltimore Waltz (Playwright), And Baby Makes Seven (Playwright), Desdemona (Playwright), How I Learned to Drive (Playwright), The Mineola Twins (Playwright), The Long Christmas Ride Home (Playwright), The Oldest Profession (Playwright), Hot 'n' Throbbing (Playwright), Indecent (Author), Pride Plays (Author), Mother Play (Playwright).

What awards has Paula Vogel been nominated for?

Outstanding Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Mother Play, Outstanding New Broadway Play (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions, Best Play (Tony Awards) for Mother Play, Legend of Off-Broadway Honorees (), Outstanding Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Indecent, Special Citation (New York Drama Critics Circle Awards) for , Lifetime Achievement (Obie Awards), Outstanding Play (The Lortels) for Indecent, Best Play (Tony Awards) for Indecent, The Pulitzer Prize for Drama (The Pulitzer Prize) for How I Learned to Drive, Outstanding New Play (Drama Desk Awards) for How I Learned to Drive and Best Play (New York Drama Critics Circle Awards) for How I Learned to Drive.

What awards has Paula Vogel won?

Paula Vogel has received several prestigious awards throughout her career. She is recognized as a Legend of Off-Broadway Honorees. She earned a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Obie Awards. Paula Vogel won The Pulitzer Prize for Drama for How I Learned to Drive. Additionally, she was honored with the Outstanding New Play award from the Drama Desk Awards for How I Learned to Drive, as well as the Best Play award from the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for the same play.

Get Paula Vogel Email Alerts

Be the first to get news, photos, videos & more.

Videos