Critical reaction to The Heidi Chronicles has been mixed since its debut in 1988. Many feminists critics applauded the fact that a play about women and women's issues was such a smashing success. The depiction of a modern woman living an anxiety-filled life was a concept with which many women identified. But some such critics believed this success came at a price, complaining that Heidi and the other female characters are not as well-rounded as they could be. Heidi merely reacts to what is going on around her, while the male characters tend to dominate the action. Gerald Weales wrote in Commonweal that "Heidi is so muted in her behavior that she serves as a little more than a foil for the more animated characters—a kind of wall on which Wasserstein can hang her snapshots."

Many critics debated the strength of the characters in The...