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Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul The Heidi Chronicles Also see Arthur's review of Middle Brother
The production on view at the Guthrie Theater, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage under Leigh Silverman's, direction, documents the life of Heidi Holland, a highly intelligent and articulate women, from her mid-teenage years to the onset of middle age. We do not experience Heidi's life as a continuous narrative with ongoing texture and subtlety. It is more akin to a series of historical museum dioramas, each using key images and artifacts as touchstones to portray its appointed period in time. Each of the play's two acts opens with a prologue set in 1989—"the present," when the play was written. Heidi, by then an accomplished art historian, delivers a lecture on women artists, underscoring the lack of attention to contributions made by women in the visual arts (and by extension, in society as a whole). In the Act 1 prologue, after opining that Clara Peeters was the greatest 17th century woman artist, Heidi invites us to name ten others. The audience's laughter reveals our collective admission to being woefully unversed on the accomplishments of women. At least Heidi spares of the embarrassment of having to name ten 20th century woman artists. We then zoom back in time to a 1965 high school dance, with Heidi and her friend Susan Johnston each negotiating the complex unwritten rules of interaction between the sexes. Susan embraces the rules, hiking up her skirt to catch a desirable (because he can twist and smoke at the same time) boy's attention, and positioning herself to give the idea that she is there "with" Heidi. Heidi, however, does not succumb to those games. Whether it is lack of confidence her ability to play the game, a disdain for the games-playing approach to relationships or a bit of both, is not fully clear. This is how she ends up forming a friendship with Peter Patrone, a boy similarly unable to play by the rules. Flash to 1968 and Heidi is a college student volunteer working on Eugene McCarthy's presidential bid. At a campaign center she meets Scoop Rosenbaum, a journalist for a progressive newspaper who is covering the campaign, and who zeroes in on Heidi. Despite her attempts to repel his interest, she ends up being taken in by his charisma and wit. Heidi has depth and solid values, but not the chutzpah to push ahead. Scoop may be less principled, but has charisma and quick wit. Their differences seem to draw them together, and end with Heidi taking a plunge into the era of sexual freedom. Back and forth go the scenes, between Heidi's relationship with Peter, who it turns out is gay (a fact easily apparent to the audience before it was to Heidi) and with Scoop, who settles for marriage to Lisa, a woman who does not challenge his opportunism. We also see Heidi's friendship with Susan and other women deepen in the cauldron of sisterhood stirred by the women's movement, only to be diluted as these women use their increased personal strength to pursue success defined by status quo culture. In 1984, Susan, having become a high powered TV exec, offers Heidi a job as a consultant on a TV sitcom about three gal-pal artists and the mistakes they made in the seventies. Heidi is appalled. Heidi remains true to her course, but the price is growing isolation from those willing, or able, to convert their youthful ideals into career drive. Kate Wetherhead (well known to fans of the cable series Submissions Only) is a perfect Heidi. She projects just the right balance of stubborn belief in her principles, and uncertainty as to her own ability to carry out that belief. She is attractive enough to believably draw a man of Scoop's appetites, while wholesome and earnest enough to believably stay out of the limelight, even as she is always present. Her Heidi watches from the side, and sets her course in response to changes on the cultural landscape. As she describes herself at one point, she is "a highly informed spectator in life." The versatile Tracey Maloney's portrayal of Susan is epitomizes a person who jumps into the deep water of every trend. At her high school dance she will pull all stops to nail the guy; in the women's movement, she is totally immersed in the power of sisterhood; when careerism strikes, she makes choices that allow her to rise to the top. Maloney invests each of Susan's phases with the energy of a true, albeit transient, believer. Ben Graney as Scoop projects the necessary confidence and charisma, tottering between obnoxious and charming. Zach Shaffer as Peter is sympathetic in the early scenes, as a loyal friend who clearly has limits on the boundaries around that friendship as he comes to terms with his true nature. The pain he experiences as he deals with the onset of AIDS among his friends is well integrated into his portrayal of a man whose native softness by necessity has been hardened. Stacia Rice and Mo Perry, two of our most accomplished actors, each handle a variety of roles with aplomb. Perry is especially memorable as Fran, a radical lesbian in the 1970 women's support group; Rice makes strong impressions as uptight support group member Jill, and as April Lambert, a bubble-headed 1982 talk show host. Leigh Silverman moves the actors through their scenes efficiently and manages to maintain a focus on Heidi in spite of her being among the most passive of dramatic heroines. She effects transitions that help us to straddle the passing of years as each scene jumps ahead in time from the one before it. Clint Ramos' costumes designs do justice to the eras they portray, capturing the exaggerated styles of each period. In particular, the garb for a 1977 wedding give the costume designs for the film American Hustle a run for their money. Ramos also did set designs, with a collage of art museum archival storage as a backdrop, pulling out draws and lifting cabinets to create various playing spaces. Only a sushi restaurant that's elaborately and colorfully design (it draw applause from the audience), was out of step with the more subdued tones of the other set pieces. Because of its episodic nature, we need to surmise what Heidi has experienced during the time between scenes. For example, she spends time between scenes living in London. We never see her there, nor are we party to how that experience played into her journey. Our ability to fill in the gaps depends in part on our own knowledge of the era's social history. While I lived through those decades, my 25 year old daughter who saw the play with me was at a loss to fill in some of those blanks. At the same time, she admitted that seeing the play helped her understand what women in her mother's generation went through. While the arc of The Heidi Chronicles stretches over 24 years, another 25 years have passed since the play's end point. We cannot help but wonder, with 25 years of continued change in society, how this hope was borne out? Has the world changed enough for the many Heidi's —those not seeking the spotlight for heroic efforts, simply wanting to live a life that is both good and principled, to more easily find their way? One thing at least seems to have changed: At the moment of the play's birth, it made a current statement about the status of women (at least white, well educated women) in society. Making such a statement was in itself an important act. Twenty-five years later we seem less compelled to issue such statements, as we take for granted that great strides have been made. Revisiting The Heidi Chronicles forces us to question that premise, to wonder how far we really have come and what remains to be done —cloaked in an entertaining story acted by a first rate cast.
Writer: Wendy Wasserstein; Director: Leigh Silverman; Set and costume designer: Clint Ramos; Lighting designer: Eric Southern; Sound designer: Bart Fasbender; Dramaturg: Jo Holcomb; Voice and dialect coach: Lucinda Holshue; Stage manager: Tree O'Halloran; Assistant stage manager: Michele Hossle; Assistant director: Anya Kremenetsky; Design assistants: Lisa Jones (costumes), Tom Mays (lighting), Reid Rejsa (sound); Interns: Maxwell Collyard (directing), Sarah Bissonette (dramaturgy), Kristina Mast (stage management). Cast: Sam Bardwell (Chris Boxer, Mark, TV Attendant, Ray); Eleonore Dendy (Becky, Debbie, Denise); Ben Graney ( Scoop Rosenbaum); Tracey Maloney (Susan Johnston); Mo Perry (Fran, Clara, Lisa); Stacia Rice (Jill, Molly, Betsy, April); Zach Schaffer (Peter Patrone); Kate Wetherhead (Heidi Holland).
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