Reading the plays of Wendy Wasserstein

"In Reading the Plays of Wendy Wasserstein, author Jan Balakian places Wasserstein's seven major plays in a historical context. Close readings of each play are interwoven with discussion of such topics as the Gilded Age (Old Money), life at a women's college in the early 1970s (Uncommon Women and Others), challenges to liberal assumptions (Third), and the rise and fall of feminism (The Heidi Chronicles, winner of the Pulitzer Prize)." "Drawing on the recently established Wasserstein archives at Mount Holyoke College, this book delves into primary sources such as commencement speeches and popular songs and features unpublished handwritten pages from the playwright's notebooks. Lending further insight into Wasserstein's concerns are Balakian's own interviews with the playwright herself and conversations with Wasserstein's friends, including playwright Christopher Durang, director Dan Sullivan, and playwright and director Emily Mann."--Jacket.