A run of Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize winning play “The Heidi Chronicles” opened Thursday at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center and will continue through Sunday. In preparation for the weekend, the cast and crew of the State College Community Theatre fervently discussed two questions concerning the play's central themes: What is feminism? Why do we need it?
Nigel Semaj Barnes directs this take on the 1988 feminist play and is a theatre student at Lycoming College. He said discussing these big questions during the first week of rehearsals was essential to crafting a meaningful show.
“I’m a very firm believer that if you don’t know the reason why you’re doing a show, you can’t necessarily give a genuine performance," Semaj Barnes said. “It’s getting out of hand now: the fact that these problems they were having in the '60s and the '70s and the '80s and now it’s 2016 and we’re still having these issues.”
These issues include equal representation in the workplace, equal pay, and equal consideration among genders and sexualities. All are addressed in the show, which traces the life of art historian Heidi Holland from high school in the '60s to adulthood in the '80s.
Penn State student Dana Hiyajneh plays Heidi and says she relates to the character, especially given the social activism that’s led up to this year’s election.
“It’s still the same issues that we’re dealing with today," said Hiyajneh. "I think they’re going to be around a while just by looking at some political figures who are not exactly on our side.”
Heidi’s counterpart and best friend Peter Patrone also provides a look into the state of LGBT rights then and now. Jacob Brittingham is a graduate student at Penn State and plays the gay pediatrician.
“While ‘The Heidi Chronicles’ is primarily a feminist play, it touches base on a lot of other issues," said Brittingham. "Peter is in a weird position because being a member of the LGBT community, he’s saying ‘No, you have to think about everyone else’s rights as well.’ And it’s kind of one of those things where when one group that’s underprivileged is able to make an advancement and break down some barriers, that allows other groups to follow through.”
The transitions between scenes are relevant too. Skipping through the decades, the actors change sets to the score of speeches and poetry by notable women of the last 40 years, including Gloria Steinem, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with her widely viewed TEDx talk titled “We Should All be Feminists."
However, Barnes said the show's goal is not to force feminism on the audience but, rather, teach them why it's necessary.
“Our job isn’t to convert anybody. But I’m very big on theatre for social change. That’s kind of my niche there so if the audience doesn’t leave the theatre learning something, I didn’t do my job.”
Performances of "The Heidi Chronicles" play at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center July 28-30 at 8 p.m. as well at July 30 at 2 p.m. and July 31 at 3 p.m.
