Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, the most-produced script in American regional theatres this season, will make its Chicago premiere at the Northlight Theatre, Feb. 3 - March 7, with an official Feb. 10 opening.

The provocative, Pulitzer Prize-winning drama concerns the sexual abuse of "Li'l Bit" (played by Mariann Mayberry) by her "Uncle Peck" (played by Scott Jaeck). Vogel recently told PBOL that Nabokov's infamous novel, "Lolita" inspired her to write the Pulitzer Prize winning piece saying, "'Lolita' was fascinating to me because it was so even-handed and so neutral. I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen, if a woman wrote the story from Lolita's point of view."

How I Learned To Drive opened at the Vineyard Theatre Off- Broadway in 1997 and transferred to the Century Theatre. Ironically, the production posted a closing notice for April 19, 1998 before the Pulitzer announcement five days earlier. It closed, as scheduled.

Vogel also is author of Desdemona, Hot and Throbbing, And Baby Makes Seven, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz and The Oldest Profession.

American Theatre magazine reported in its October 1998 issue that 26 Equity affiliated stagings of the small-cast (of five) Vogel drama are scheduled in the 1998-99 season. Tickets for the Northlight production are $23 - $36. For reservations or more information, call (847) 673-6300.

-- By Sean McGrath