Script vs. Performance

After staring at this page for the last 20 minutes, I guess what my feelings toward all this boil down to is that The Heidi Chronicles was a plot I enjoyed more as a script than a play. Reading it myself, I had a far stronger view of Heidi in my mind; though nervous and a spectator, for me she was a grounded and honest woman struggling to find what she truly wanted out of her life. As a feminist she held on to her views and pursued her career with great passion. However, throughout her journey she inevitably grew apart from the friends she was once so close to. I didn’t interpret this as any of the characters’ fault but rather a natural course in the human experience. By the end of the play I was left contented to see Heidi adopt a child of her own to satisfy her loneliness. I did not see the adoption as her “caving in,” but rather her finally taking a moment to take a break from her work and relax with someone new and uncomplicated. In a way, I saw the end of the play as the beginning of Heidi’s fulfilled life.

With this in mind, I was confused by the end of the WSU presentation. While the other characters mirrored my imaginings, Heidi’s was completely different than expected. In the acted play she seemed frightened, insecure, and absolutely confused. I understood the purpose behind portraying her this way, but it left the end of the play feeling unfinished. To me she was supposed to finally be fulfilled in the end of the play, having accomplished all her goals and accepting that she needed company in her life to be truly happy. The feminist movement was all about equal rights, but it also placed woman in a position of needing to feel independent and absolutely strong in her convictions. This is a lot of pressure to put onto anyone, and the adoption was her realization that she did not have to go through her life all alone. More importantly, her work was not all she had to offer.

The WSU rendition was satisfactory but in the end it did not meet my expectations. I saw the play as a positive statement for woman not to settle for anything less than what they deserve and after Thursday night felt like the future of the characters was quite bleak.