A Poet of a Certain Age and Playwright Paula Vogel

I could have called myself a Stradivarius,

for though I, of course, was just an ordinary violin, waiting,

ready to be held for the first time in a musician’s hands,

primed to be played,

mobilized by all my busy genes

to become music –

when first I felt the quiver

of its stirring sound,

I became, imparadised,

the most priceless stringed instrument

on the face of the earth. 

This is the poetry of Margaret "Peggy" Freydberg, remembering the electricity of new love that came to her in middle age, after the death of her husband. Peggy wrote a lot about nature and love and never gave up her dream to be a poet, through all 107 years of her life. Peggy died this year but her dream lives on through the efforts of writer Nancy Aronie, and producer Laurie David, who published her latest collection, "Poems from the Pond."  

Also, Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Paula Vogel, joins Colin to talk about her career and her latest production, "Indecent," the true story of a controversial moment in Jewish cultural history. The play is currently at Yale Rep through October 24.

GUESTS:

• Paula Vogel - American playwright and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, "How I Learned to Drive." In 2012, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. This year, she became the first female playwright included in Yale’s Collection of American Literature at Beinecke Library. 
• Nancy Slonim Aronie - Author of Writing From the Heart: Tapping the Power of Your Inner Voice. She is a commentator for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and the founder of the Chilmark Writing Workshop on Martha’s Vineyard.
• Laurie David is the producer of “An Inconvenient Truth,” and editor of Poems from the Pond,  a collection written by Peggy Freydberg, a 107-year-old poet.

“INDECENT’’ is now in previews at the University Theatre, 222 York St., New Haven. The Yale Repertory Theatre co­production opens Thursday, Oct. 8, and runs through Oct. 24. Information at yalerep.org and 203­432­1234.

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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.