Wendy Wasserstein

Wendy Wasserstein (1950–2006) was an American playwright and screenwriter whose plays examined women’s lives, ambition, and changing social expectations. Her play The Heidi Chronicles won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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The Heidi Chronicles: A play following art historian Heidi Holland from the 1960s through the 1980s as she weighs career, friendship, and motherhood. This Pulitzer-winning play became Wasserstein’s signature account of a generation’s changing choices.
Mount Holyoke College: A private women’s liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Wasserstein studied there, and its alumnae inspired her play Uncommon Women and Others.
Kathy Bates: An American actor and director known for film, television, and stage roles. Bates played Heidi Holland in the 1995 television adaptation of The Heidi Chronicles.
Pulitzer Prize for Drama: An annual American award recognizing distinguished drama first performed in the United States. The Heidi Chronicles received this prize in 1989.
Comedy of manners: A comedy that exposes social conventions and character through witty dialogue and behavior. Wasserstein used social humor to examine class, relationships, and women’s expectations.
Uncommon Women and Others: A 1977 play about women who reunite after graduating from Mount Holyoke College. Its college friends establish the themes of female ambition and solidarity that Wasserstein revisited.
Yale School of Drama: A graduate school for theater arts at Yale University, now called the David Geffen School of Drama. Wasserstein earned a master’s degree in playwriting there.
Peter Schneider: An American theater director and producer who directed the Broadway production of The Heidi Chronicles. His direction helped shape the play’s 1989 Broadway staging.
Tony Award for Best Play: An annual award honoring the best new play produced on Broadway. The Heidi Chronicles won the 1989 award, the same year it received the Pulitzer.
Coming-of-age story: A narrative tracing a young person’s development toward maturity and self-understanding. Uncommon Women and Others adapts this form to women’s college friendships and adult lives.