YSU students to present ‘How I Learned to Drive’

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University Theater’s Blackbox Productions will stage Paula Vogel’s comic drama “How I Learned to Drive” Thursday through Sunday in Spotlight Arena Theater, inside Bliss Hall.

Performances will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

“How I Learned to Drive” is a tale of survival as seen through a troubling relationship between a young girl and an older man. The New York Times described it as “… a tremendous achievement, genuine and genuinely disturbing … This is, quite simply, the sweetest and most forgiving play ever written about child abuse.”

“How I Learned” won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize. It is recommended for mature audiences.

The production is directed by Jennifer Tomerlin, a senior theater major from Niles. The cast includes Katy Mestichelli, Ryan Bissett and chorus members Montaja Simmons, Bobby Brooks and Juleah Buttermore.

Tickets are $5 ($3 for students and senior citizens) and can be reserved by calling the box office at (330) 941-3105. All seats are general admission.

Parking is available in the Wick Avenue parking deck Thursday through Saturday for a nominal fee, and on Sunday, parking will be available at no charge in the lot next to the former Wick Pollock Inn.