twivea's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i was cast in this play for my university and also had to read it for several of my classes. i really liked the different characters, it was funny and at the same time the second act is very moving.
iamtaylorhope's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
loquitacass's review against another edition
4.0
I felt a lot of the emotions that Heidi did as I was reading this play. But the final image made it worth it.
ostrowk's review against another edition
4.0
"I hope our daughters never feel like us. I hope all our daughters feel so fucking worthwhile" (182).
"No more master penises!" (185).
"'I'm just not happy. I'm afraid I haven't been happy for some time.' I don't blame the ladies in the locker room for how I feel. I don't blame any of us. We're all concerned, intelligent, good women. It's just that I feel stranded. And I thought the whole point was that we wouldn't feel stranded. I thought the point was that we were all in this together" (232).
I really liked reading HEIDI CHRONICLES, even if some of the plays' politics felt dated and some of the comedy felt off-the-mark to me. Like, are we meant to laugh at the radical lesbian or with her? The plays are really sharp, really funny, and persistently relevant. I appreciated the specificity of the characters and the settings: Seven Sisters and Ivy League (soon-to-be) graduates, navigating their lives as "uncommon women" in New York. Yes, it's a 9-5 kind of white (Jewish) feminism, with insufficient class critique, but those are the stories Wasserstein knows, not to mention ones that feel most familiar to me, and I'm grateful she told them.
"No more master penises!" (185).
"'I'm just not happy. I'm afraid I haven't been happy for some time.' I don't blame the ladies in the locker room for how I feel. I don't blame any of us. We're all concerned, intelligent, good women. It's just that I feel stranded. And I thought the whole point was that we wouldn't feel stranded. I thought the point was that we were all in this together" (232).
I really liked reading HEIDI CHRONICLES, even if some of the plays' politics felt dated and some of the comedy felt off-the-mark to me. Like, are we meant to laugh at the radical lesbian or with her? The plays are really sharp, really funny, and persistently relevant. I appreciated the specificity of the characters and the settings: Seven Sisters and Ivy League (soon-to-be) graduates, navigating their lives as "uncommon women" in New York. Yes, it's a 9-5 kind of white (Jewish) feminism, with insufficient class critique, but those are the stories Wasserstein knows, not to mention ones that feel most familiar to me, and I'm grateful she told them.
annexelizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pretty good <3 my fave of the plays was uncommon women and others
natalielorelei's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up for an audition monologue, and I liked it much more than I was expecting to after hating Uncommon Women and Others! Almost 30 years on, it didn't feel particularly groundbreaking to me (especially not after having read several other Baby Boomer Retrospectives), but the characters were interesting, and several of the scenes were comedic gold.
camerongracewolff's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
jdgcreates's review against another edition
3.0
A very dynamic portrait of being female through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I think this would've been excellent on stage, though now it is outdated.