Uncommon Women and Others (play)

Uncommon Women and Others (1977), is the first play by noted 20th-century American playwright Wendy Wasserstein. Wasserstein wrote the play that was representative of her time at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts for her thesis at the Yale School of Drama and thus serves as a memory play. Wasserstein was disappointed she had never been assigned plays written by female playwrights nor did they incorporate any female directors during her time there. The play is about a group of women who come together in 1978 and relieve their time at Mount Holyoke College, Wasserstein's alma mater, in 1972–73 during second wave feminism and their journey to becoming the women they aspire to be to achieve their relationship and career goals.

Plot summary

Alumnae of Mount Holyoke College (Wasserstein's alma mater) meet for lunch six years after they graduate in 1978 to catch up about their lives after college. The play is a memory play thus contains series of flashbacks to the 1972–73 school year as seven seniors and one freshman try to discover their true path in life in the wake of second-wave feminism. The play focuses less on plot development and more on the different types of women presented in the play and the common themes between them. The characters lie on a spectrum between the more traditional Susie to an isolated and dreamy characters like Carter. The action of the play starts with the reunion of 5 graduates as they compare stories about various activities they've done since college, then resumes with interlaced stories of their last year in college and how those experienced shaped how they became the individuals they are.

Significance as a commentary on social issues

Uncommon Women and Others is well known for being one of the first plays regarding contemporary women issues that was taken seriously. John O'Connor, a critic for the New York Times complimented Wendy's "insights into the challenges and crises confronting modern women." Wasserstein's was also praised for her knack for dialogue and her sense of humor that was necessary for herself and her bold characters to survive patriarchal society which proved that women did not need to be outlandish, insane or weird to be worthy of representation on stage. It became one of the most commonly reproduced plays in colleges in the years after its premiere. Not only did it encourage a movement, but it presents the sacred coming of age theme of finding oneself in the midst of adulthood relevant to all genders throughout time.

Production history

A family friend of Wasserstein's asked to show the play to director Robert Moss of Playwrights Horizons, an Off-Broadway theatre where she then broadened her artistic horizons and spent time on the artistic board. Uncommon Women premiered Off-Broadway in a Phoenix Theatre production in New York on November 21, 1977 and closed on December 4, 1977 after 22 performances. It later made a televised appearance on the Great Performances series in 1978 starring Meryl Streep. The play returned again in the fall of 1994 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York with an updated ending.

Setting

Setting takes place in a restaurant in 1978 when the women are around 27 years old and their memories six years prior at Mount Holyoke College for women.

The stage should be set up so the restaurant furniture can transform into their college living room. Benches as beds and lounge furniture.
Pastel or light colors and slight alterations to the outfits they were already wearing in the restaurant.

Characters

Listed in order as they appear in Dramatists Play Service Inc. playbook.

• Muffet DiNicola - Wry and cheerful, Muffet is stylish and attractive to many men and her friends would call her charming and possessing quick intelligence. Approaching thirty, she is re-examining her younger tendencies to view men as more interesting than women.
• Holly Kaplan - The type of girl that looks disheveled in high end clothes because she doesn't want to try too hard. Holly can be a spectacle or a spectator, but she is witty and loving.
• Kate Quin - Aware of her handsome features, Kate is weary of the image it might portray to others. She walks with a sense of direction, which is why the other girls like to make her laugh.
• Samantha Stewart - Hopes to find a husband during her time in college. Samantha is a tasteful and quiet woman, but stands out at parties. She is the idea of a "classic", a mayor's daughter, and discretely jocular.
• Rita Altabel - Walks to the beat of her own drum, but refuses to live down to expectations, something her wicked imagination would never let her do anyway.
• Mrs. Plumm - The Housemother of North Stimson Hall. Full of dignity, but still comfortable.
• Susie Friend - You can usually find her in pink as the head of Freshman, Father-Daughter Weekend, Spring Weekend, Fall House Parties, and the student faculty committee on library responsibilities all without skipping a beat.
• Carter - Small and frail but chooses big skirts and tops, Carter is unusually quiet but enjoys her inner self because she is inwardly directed and suspected to be a genius by some.
• Leilah - Although beautiful, she is obsessively tailored to the point of being rigid. Behind that austere she is kind and a strong intellectual, but hides her stress from friends and family.

Film

A made-for-television film was broadcast in 1978, with all of the stage cast reprising their roles, except that Meryl Streep played Leilah.

References

• Wasserstein, Wendy. The Heidi Chronicles, Uncommon Women and Others, & Isn't It Romantic. New York: Vintage, 1990. ISBN 0-679-73499-6
• Wasserstein, Wendy.Uncommon Women and Others - google books
• Balakian, Jan. ""

External links

• 1977 Theater review - New York Times
• Lortel listing, 1977
• College Honors Wendy Wasserstein '71 with Staged Reading