Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles was first produced Off-Broadway in December of 1988 and ran for three sold-out months before it moved to Broadway in March of 1989.  It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a Tony, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play to name a few.

It is the story of a baby boom generation character's coming of age.  Heidi is often a mute observer with the dialog dominated by two male and numerous female friends. 

The play was performed by the UMD Theatre department at the Dudley Experimental Theatre on the UMD Campus.  The play consisted of 12 scenes, each separated by a blackout with slides and music depicting the era of the coming scene.  A familiarity with the cultural artifacts of the time was important in identifying the time periods portrayed. 

The acting was uneven with the characters drawing me in during one scene and leaving me cold during the next.  I found the characters that I enjoyed the most were some that were almost over the top.  There were few times during the performance that I "forgot" that I was at a performance.  The two stand-out characters for me were her friend Peter, the gay Pediatritian and April, the host of the talk show.

The best part of the evening was being able to spend some time with my niece Sara.  Sara is in an Intro to Theatre class this semester and had to rush home and put finishing touches on a paper after seeing the play.