The Heidi Chronicles

Infobox Play
name = The Heidi Chronicles


image_size =
caption =
writer = Wendy Wasserstein
characters = Heidi Holland
Peter Patrone
Scoop Rosenbaum
Susan Johnston
Lisa
Jill
Fran
setting = New York, Chicago, Manchester, New Hampshire, Ann Arbor, 1965-1989
premiere = November 18 1988
place = Playwrights Horizons
New York City, New York
orig_lang = English
subject =
genre = Drama
ibdb_id = 4292

"The Heidi Chronicles" is a 1988 play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play premiered in 1988 off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons where there were 99 performances. After transferring to the Broadway Plymouth Theatre on 9 March1989, the play went on to stage 622 performances before closing on September 1 1990. Both productions were directed by Daniel Sullivan, starring Joan Allen as Heidi. Sarah Jessica Parker was featured in three small roles before being replaced by Cynthia Nixon.

The first major production mounted after Wasserstein's death was at the Berkshire Theatre Festival during the summer of 2006.

Plot synopsis

The plot follows Heidi Holland from high school in the 1960s to her career as a successful art historian more than twenty years later. The play's main themes deal with the changing role of women during this time period, describing both Heidi's ardent feminism during the 1970s and her eventual sense of betrayal during the 1980s. Though most of the characters are women, there are two important male characters; Peter Patrone, a gay pediatrician who is arguably Heidi's best friend, and Scoop Rosenbaum, a magazine editor who marries and has many affairs, and with whom Heidi has a tense friendship.

Film adaptation

In 1995 the play was adapted for a television film directed by Paul Bogart, with stars, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Hulce in the leading roles.

Awards and nominations

;Awards
* 1989 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play
* 1989 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play
* 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
* 1989 Tony Award for Best Play

References

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External links

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