By Amanda Smith\/\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hood College\u2019s production of \u201cThe Heidi Chronicles\u201d will open in the Tatem Arts Center on April 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Produced in 1988 by playwright Wendy Wasserstein, \u201cThe Heidi Chronicles\u201d has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. The play tells the life story of main character Heidi Holland from 1965 to 1989, as she navigates a rapidly changing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt really is the story of the women\u2019s movement,\u201d said Suzanne Beal, theater professor at Hood College and director of the play. The story largely focuses on the turbulence of the time period and Heidi\u2019s growing awareness of the feminist movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beal chose this play as her directorial debut at Hood because of its feminist themes and attentive focus on the lives of its female characters. \u201cI\u2019m very drawn to women playwrights and plays that chronicle the female experience because not many plays do that,\u201d Beal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHeidi is being played by Jordan Costley,\u201d Beal said. \u201cSince the play is about second wave feminism, which was very much dominated by educated white women, I thought that Jordan, as a woman of color, would bring a very different dimension to Heidi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Costley, her approach to the character of Heidi involves connecting with her through the script, finding where she fits in with her, and where their struggles are aligned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDoing a time period piece can be quite difficult, not only for actors but also the audience,\u201d Costley said. \u201cPart of approaching this challenge as an actor is saying \u2018how am I different from before, how am I growing besides getting older?\u2019”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Gracyn Van Bemmel, stage manager, had the desire to work on this particular production because of her love for the position and her appreciation of the play\u2019s messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt follows the life of this girl, Heidi, who’s very true to herself during a time when things like the feminist movement weren’t as mainstream or accepted as they are today,\u201d Van Bemmel said. \u201cIt emphasizes the misogyny and sexism of past time periods, and hints at the fact that there are still some things that women have to fight for now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beal has arranged for a panel of women who experienced life during the time period portrayed in the play to speak at the Black Box Theatre and share their perspectives on what it was like for women during that era. Although it was originally arranged for the benefit of the production\u2019s cast members, Beal believes it will be of interest to anyone who is fascinated by history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The panel will be taking place on March 7 with a group of diverse female speakers both in terms of age and ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe play really looks at a part of our history that I think is really, really important,\u201d Beal said. According to Beal, the play has a particular relevance because it emphasizes historical problems that still affect contemporary society today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you think about the #MeToo movement, the Dobbs Decision, the women\u2019s soccer league challenging the fact that they\u2019ve been paid so much less than men, all of those kinds of things go back to what was going on in the late 60s and 70s,\u201d Beal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTheater and the arts are the cornerstone to a civilization’s culture,\u201d said Aaron Heiner, marketing coordinator who oversees promoting the production. \u201cHood has a very diverse student body that is emblematic of the American melting pot of world culture, with theater as part of that cauldron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think people will be drawn to the characters,\u201d Beal said. \u201cWhether they think about it as historical or not, I think they will be drawn to Heidi\u2019s experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Heidi Chronicles\u201d will play in the Black Box Theatre in the Tatem Arts Center from April 13-16. The show is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"