School of Fine & Performing Arts

Heidi Chronicles on stage at SUNY New Paltz

NEW PALTZ — The SUNY New Paltz Department of Theatre Arts will present the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy The Heidi Chronicles, November 13-23 in the college’s Parker Theatre. Written by Wendy Wasserstein, the play comprises a series of interrelated scenes that trace the coming of age of Heidi Holland as she tries to find her bearings in a rapidly changing world from 1965 to 1989.

Image available at http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/HEIDI4copy-10-03.htmlHeidi’s journey as an idealist and political radical during her college years, continuing through a militant feminist period in the 1970s, and ending in the materialistic success-oriented 1980’s is emotional and heartfelt, offering perceptive characterizations and witty dialogue.

As her story unfolds, Heidi watches friends make choices that take them away from their youthful, visionary pursuits toward the self-centered lives they tried so hard to avoid. On her own path toward fulfillment and maturity, Heidi eventually comes to accept the fact that liberation can be achieved only if one is true to oneself with goals that come out of need rather than circumstance.

Other plays by Wendy Wasserstein include Uncommon Women and Others, An American Daughter, and The Sisters Rosensweig. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, The Heidi Chronicles won the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award.

Performances of The Heidi Chronicles are November 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 at 8 p.m. Matinee performances will occur on November 16 and 23 at 2 p.m. All performances are in Parker Theatre, which is wheelchair accessible and equipped with an assisted listening system for the hearing impaired. Tickets are $14 general admission, $12 seniors and students.

The Box Office, located in Parker Theatre lobby, is open Monday – Friday 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. beginning November 3. For more information and ticket sales, call 845-257-3880.

The web address for images to accompany this press release is http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/heidi1-sm-10-03.html