Paula Vogel had her first Broadway production just a couple of years ago, with “Indecent,” a play-with-music concerning a famous theater censorship trial.
But Vogel’s been a major presence off Broadway and at regional theaters for decades, with such searing dramas as “The Baltimore Waltz,” “The Mineola Twins” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned to Drive.”
Most of Vogel’s plays are set in the 20th century. Her major history-based drama other than “Indecent” is “A Civil War Christmas,” which premiered at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven in 2008. The show has been done around the country, including a New York production in 2012. It takes place on Christmas Eve in 1864, following the stories of Mary Todd Lincoln, Walt Whitman, escaped slaves and others, in Washington D.C. just one month before President Lincoln signed the 13th amendment, abolishing slavery.
Connecticut Repertory Theatre offers a timely production of this wintertime political reckoning, Nov. 29 through Dec. 9 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, 2132 Hillside Ave. on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs. “A Civil War Christmas,” which includes music by Daryl Waters, is directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke and features a cast of 14 UConn acting students plus professional actors Forrest McClendon and Tabatha Gayle. Performances are Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 30 at 8 p.m., then Dec. 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 7 at 8 p.m., Dec. 8 at 2 and 8 p.m. and Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10-$38. 860-486-2113, crt.uconn.edu