The role of women in society is ever-changing. The way women react to society's pressures has changed quickly, and in Wendy Wasserstein's "Uncommon Women and Others," the struggles a group of young college girls face while dealing with the expectations of society are presented.
Wasserstein's humorous and enlightening play is now being presented by the AU Players. Leeanna Rubin, a junior in the College of Arts and Science, directed the play, which looks into the lives of female college students who are attending college during second-wave feminism.
The audience follows a group of Mount Holyoke College alumnae as they reunite years after graduating. As the ladies come together for lunch, they reminisce about their college years and discuss how their lives turned out after graduating.
With a series of flashbacks throughout the play, the audience gains a view into the lives of the women when they were studying at the all-female institution. The flashbacks explore many different experiences the women go through during their senior year. Along with the soon-to-be graduates, the audience also gains a glimpse into the life of a freshman, played by School of International Service freshman Becky Sotello, who spends time with the older students.
From dating troubles to self-esteem issues to eating disorders, the women face a variety of obstacles while in college. They are especially confronted with the issue of deciding what to do after they graduate. The play's time period - the 1970s - has an immense role on the behavior of the women, since that was the time when women were fighting for their right to choose what they wanted to do with their lives rather than just going by the typical norms of society of getting married and having children.
From an insecure rich girl, played by School of Communication freshman Kelly Holliday, to a quirky chatterbox, played by SOC freshman Emily Greenberger, members of the group are very different from one another. With a group of such different personalities, it is interesting to see what lifestyle each character will choose after she completes her studies.
As the lives of the characters are presented, interjections take place between the scenes. A male-recorded track is played.
"[It] reminds us that [the characters] are living in a male dominated society," AU Players Outreach Director Ariana Hodes said.
Rubin further explained the purpose of the interruptions by the male voice in relation to the characters' lives.
"It breaks up the stages of their development as they progress through college," she said.
An impressive all-female cast presents the female-dominated plot.
"It is good that the AU Players are putting on a show with an all-female cast because there are female actresses on campus who need the opportunities," Rubin said.
Despite the main focus of the play being on the roles of women in society, it also highlights the roles men play in the lives of women, both sexually and emotionally.
Even though the play takes the audience nearly 30 years into the past, it has a noticeable connection to the present day. Women continue to fight for their place in the world through hard work and determination, and Wasserstein's play shows that no matter what time period a woman is from, she can relate to another female; they all go through the same experiences on their path to adulthood and equality.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
