2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Arena Stage empowers 'Heidi' again
By Tara Abell on 4/19/07
The Arena Stage's latest production, "The Heidi Chronicles," is one of the most well-known and highly praised feminist works of the past twenty years. Written by renowned playwright Wendy Wasserstein, the play follows the life of Heidi Holland on the long road of maturity and self-recognition she walks along.
After Wasserstein's unfortunate and early death in January 2006, her plays were revived throughout the country. "The Heidi Chronicles" won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. It is by far Wasserstein's most famous work and has been loved by both men and women for almost twenty years.
This production of the show absolutely lives up to any New York version. The entire cast delivered an amazing performance that made the audience identify and empathize with Heidi and everything she goes through.
The most striking aspects of the play by far were the costumes and scenery. In the first scene, Heidi and her best friend Susan are at a high school dance in 1964. Both are wearing pastel taffeta dresses, sitting in neon plastic chairs, drinking from a punch bowl and bopping their heads to "The Twist" in a totally believable scene.
As they grow up, the progression of time is very well illustrated through the costumes and set. When Heidi and Susan canvas for political parties in 1968, they wear geometric sheath dresses and their boyfriends sport suede fringe coats. The scenes that follow depict Heidi protesting for her favorite cause, women in the arts, show her wielding picket signs and megaphones. The two attend feminist group meetings and weddings in the 1970s, contrasting the casual and formal styles worn by the women of the time. In the last few scenes of the play, Heidi and her friends live in bare New York apartments in the late '80s and wear their power suits proudly, shoulder pads and all.
Another important aspect of the production was a slide show between scenes that depicted political figures, celebrities and trends of the time, accompanied with the sounds of the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and Aretha Franklin. The creative progression from era to era was one of the most remarkable features of the play.
After Wasserstein's unfortunate and early death in January 2006, her plays were revived throughout the country. "The Heidi Chronicles" won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. It is by far Wasserstein's most famous work and has been loved by both men and women for almost twenty years.
This production of the show absolutely lives up to any New York version. The entire cast delivered an amazing performance that made the audience identify and empathize with Heidi and everything she goes through.
The most striking aspects of the play by far were the costumes and scenery. In the first scene, Heidi and her best friend Susan are at a high school dance in 1964. Both are wearing pastel taffeta dresses, sitting in neon plastic chairs, drinking from a punch bowl and bopping their heads to "The Twist" in a totally believable scene.
As they grow up, the progression of time is very well illustrated through the costumes and set. When Heidi and Susan canvas for political parties in 1968, they wear geometric sheath dresses and their boyfriends sport suede fringe coats. The scenes that follow depict Heidi protesting for her favorite cause, women in the arts, show her wielding picket signs and megaphones. The two attend feminist group meetings and weddings in the 1970s, contrasting the casual and formal styles worn by the women of the time. In the last few scenes of the play, Heidi and her friends live in bare New York apartments in the late '80s and wear their power suits proudly, shoulder pads and all.
Another important aspect of the production was a slide show between scenes that depicted political figures, celebrities and trends of the time, accompanied with the sounds of the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and Aretha Franklin. The creative progression from era to era was one of the most remarkable features of the play.
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