greatreporter.com, December 31st, 2006
American playwright (b. Oct. 18, 1950, Brooklyn,
N.Y.
—d. Jan. 30, 2006,
New York, N.Y.
), probed, with humour and sensibility, the predicament facing educated women who came of age in the second half of the 20th century. Her drama
Wasserstein
was educated at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley,
Mass.
(B.A., 1971), and City College of the City University of New York (M.A., 1973), where she studied creative writing with
playwright
Israel
Horovitz
and
novelist
Joseph
Heller
. In 1976 she received an M.F.A.
from Yale University.
Wasserstein
's first play,
Wasserstein
's other works included an adaptation for television of the
John
Cheever
short story "The Sorrows of Gin" (1979); the play
Christopher
Durang
);
Anton
Chekhov
's short story; a musical,
The Heidi Chronicles
(1988) was awarded both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 1989.
Any Woman Can't
(1973), is a cutting farce on one of her major themes—a woman's attempts to succeed in an environment traditionally dominated by men. Two other early works were
Uncommon Women and Others
(1975; revised and expanded, 1977) and
Isn't It Romantic
(1981), which explore women's attitudes toward marriage and society's expectations of women. In
The Heidi Chronicles
a successful art historian discovers that her independent life choices have alienated her from men as well as women.
The Sisters Rosensweig
(1992) continued the theme into middle age. Later plays included
An American Daughter
(1997),
Old Money
(2000), and
Third
(2005).
When Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth
(1975; with
The Man in a Case
(1985), an adaptation of
Miami
(1986); and a children's book,
Pamela's First Musical
(1996). She also wrote several collections of essays, including
Shiksa Goddess
(2001).
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