Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright and Hermitage Fellow Paula Vogel to Present “Pen to Paper”

January 5, 2022 – Sarasota

Hermitage Fellow, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright, and American Theater Hall of Fame Honoree Paula Vogel will present a free community program: “Pen to Paper with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Paula Vogel” — on Friday, February 11^th at 5pm ET, in the outdoor courtyard at Booker High School. Vogel, whose award-winning plays include How I Learned to Drive and Indecent, has taught playwriting for thirty years at Brown University and at the Yale School of Drama. For this next installment of “Hermitage @ Booker,” Vogel will lead a writing ‘bake-off’ in which the audience will collectively create and design a short play through writing prompts and exercises. “Pen to Paper” is a continuation of the “Hermitage @ Booker” series, a collaborative partnership between the Hermitage Artist Retreat and Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) program, which launched in December with Hermitage Fellow and jazz musician Luke Stewart. The “Hermitage @ Booker” series features outdoor public programs intended for adults, as well as high-school and college students in the community.

Vogel’s plays include How I Learned to Drive, The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession, A Civil War Christmas, Don Juan Comes Home From Iraq, and Indecent. Vogel has been developing her playwriting memoir How To Bake A Play as part of her Hermitage Residency.

“We are honored to welcome legendary playwright Paula Vogel back to the Hermitage, where she will be sharing her extraordinary talent as a writer and experience as an educator with the members of our Sarasota community. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Dr. Rachel Shelley and the Booker VPA faculty as we build meaningful connections between some of the nation’s leading artists and our community,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “We look forward to introducing more area residents and students to the bold new works and creative journeys of acclaimed Hermitage Fellows from around the world.”

“As we seek to embolden our students to soar to new heights, we are thrilled to have Hermitage Fellows work with our students and present their process to the community,” says Booker High School Principal Dr. Rachel Shelley. “The Hermitage partnership is an extraordinary opportunity for the Booker High School VPA Magnet Program to connect student learning with the experiences of acclaimed professionals working in the visual and performing arts.”

The Hermitage’s 2022 outdoor programs are free and open to the public with a $5/person registration fee. “Pen to Paper” is intended for adults, college students, and high-school students. Due to capacity limitations and social distancing, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

The Hermitage has shared the gift of education with Booker High School and Booker Middle School students for many years, as well as other schools throughout the region, bringing leading artists from across the country into the classrooms, building bridges with students and teachers alike. As the Hermitage continues to expand its partnership with Booker High School, the organization will continue to present classroom programs and teacher workshops, as well as introducing new mentorship opportunities connecting aspiring young artists with the Hermitage’s extraordinary visiting musicians, playwrights, visual artists, dancers, and more. New support for this expanded community engagement is provided this season by the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, as well as additional support for teaching artist residencies provided by the Koski Family Foundation.

The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get an authentic “sneak peek” into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, lectures, readings, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.

All of the Hermitage’s scheduled programming in early 2022 will continue outdoors unless otherwise indicated, all with socially distanced seating.

For more information, visit HermitagArtistRetreat.org.