Theater Works' The Heidi Chronicles
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 1/7/00
(out of )It seems that the current flu virus has affected everyone in the Valley of the Sun, although you couldn't tell when the lights come up on Theater Works current production, Wendy Wasserstein's 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning, thinly veiled autobiography, The Heidi Chronicles. The always-impressive Laura Durant, tapped to portray the representative of the Equal Rights movement from repression to self-expression to self-fulfillment, spent the Wednesday before opening at the emergency room. Two days later, she was making the long journey of Heidi Holland, and doing a great job in the process.
Ms. Wasserstein concentrates on a very specific segment of the population during a tumultuous period of time. Her lead characters tend to be uptight, leftist Jewish women who have barely survived the woman's movement. While this has become an in-joke among theatre people, it's good to remember that this is the play that originated the trend, and is still her best script. While there are those who rightly point out that Heidi spends an awful lot of time kvetching and having more things done to her than doing, it also has some genuine humor, and poignant moments of women relating to other women, which is a positive thing that unfortunately still gets short shrift in the theatre. Heidi is a survivor; in love with an emotionally unavailable and charismatic idiot, and a caring but physically unavailable gay pediatrician. She watches her best friend move from idealist to high-powered television executive, and is the chronicler of women's achievements in the male-centric overview of art history. Ultimately, this play points out that women have come a long way, and are now free to make many of the wrong choices of their male counterparts.
Director Wanda McHatton has both done well and occasionally flubbed in coordinating this production. Her casting is generally solid, save for one very problematic performance. Her visuals are a mixed bag of an understated set and horrible lighting choices. Her blocking is acceptable, though there are some moments where she has created static stage pictures that grow boring. Of course, getting Ms. Durant for Heidi, Gil Berry for Heidi's lifelong friend, Peter, Cindy Wynn for best friend Susan, and a great female ensemble are saving graces that go a long way toward making this show as enjoyable as it is.
Ms. Durant believably moves from 1965 to 1989. She is just as effective as a shy coed as she is the disillusioned academic. Her Heidi is an observer, swept up by the changes of her generation, and willing to get into the fray when pushed. Ms. Durant recognizes the character's aloofness, but still brings dignity, and even some zest and passion, to this outsider role. Just as good is Mr. Berry, who seamlessly travels his character's road from suave to cynical, and tosses barbed zingers as only Mr. Berry can. A great performance comes from Ms. Wynn as she exuberantly brings life to fellow traveler Susan. The only weak leading performance comes from Stephen Craig as self-obsessed journalist Scoop Rosenbaum. While Mr. Craig is good in theory for the role, his odd timing and inaudible speaking voice cause his scenes with Ms. Durant to become flat. His performance is a B-plus in look, but a C-minus in execution.
Where this production truly sparkles, though, is in the interactions between Heidi and the female ensemble. Playing three characters a piece, Lisa Faser, Mary E. McGary and the impish Darcy Rould can be congratulated for their ability to make the best scenes in first and second act flow as well as they do. When they are working with Ms. Durant, their interaction becomes the point of the show in a better way than any explanation can offer. It's in these scenes that the show does what it says, and sparkles for it.
Thom Gilseth's bland set works for all of it's various settings, but has a strange, cheap feeling that makes it basically unremarkable. Rebecca Avery's Costumes fare much better, capturing period wonderfully. Inexplicable, and sometimes even hateful is Scott Campbell's Lighting, which is at turns unsubtle and unwatchable. Mr. Campbell and Ms. McHatton's "scrapbook photo effect" by use of blocks of light did not work opening night, as actors missed marks, or unfortunately did find them, and their performances were upstaged accordingly.
It's nice to see Theater Works continuing to do non-traditional fare, and regaining their emphasis on the basics of solid acting and presentation. Kudos go to those Sun City residents who were able to get past the play's off-color language to appreciate script and performances. Let's hope that this is a trend that continues through the rest of the season.
Production Details:
The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy
Wasserstein
Theater Works,
Peoria
(623) 815-1791
January 7th - January 30th, 2000