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45-643: Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright . She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University . She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 for her play The Heidi Chronicles . Wasserstein was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn , the daughter of Morris Wasserstein, a wealthy textile executive, and his wife, Lola (née Liska) Schleifer, who moved to

90-482: A murder mystery play which is the longest-running West End show , it has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place as of February 2024. Contemporary playwrights in the United States are affected by recent declines in theatre attendance. No longer the only outlet for serious drama or entertaining comedies, theatrical productions must use ticket sales as

135-428: A Tony Award, a Pulitzer Prize, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. In addition, she wrote the screenplay for the 1998 film The Object of My Affection , which starred Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd . Wasserstein is described as an author of women's identity crises. "Her heroines—intelligent and successful but also riddled with self-doubt—sought enduring love

180-607: A concert staging at Town Hall in New York City on May 18, 2008. She wrote the libretto for the opera Best Friends , based on Clare Boothe Luce 's play The Women , but it was uncompleted when she died. It was subsequently completed by Christopher Durang, set by Deborah Drattell , and is in development with Lauren Flanigan . In 1996 she appeared as the guest caller "Linda" on the Frasier episode "Head Game" . Wasserstein

225-587: A high school principal. Claims that Schleifer was a playwright are probably apocryphal, as contemporaries did not recall this and the assertion only appeared once Wasserstein had won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A graduate of the Calhoun School (she attended from 1963 to 1967), Wasserstein earned a B.A. in history from Mount Holyoke College in 1971, an M.A. in creative writing from City College of New York in 1973, and an M.F.A. in fine arts from

270-432: A little ambivalently, but they did not always find it, and their hard-earned sense of self-worth was often shadowed by the frustrating knowledge that American women's lives continued to be measured by their success at capturing the right man." In a conversation with novelist A. M. Homes , Wasserstein said that these heroines are the starting points for her plays: "I write from character, so it begins with people talking, which

315-654: A playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000. Today, theatre companies have new play development programs meant to develop new American voices in playwriting. Many regional theatres have hired dramaturges and literary managers in an effort to showcase various festivals for new work, or bring in playwrights for residencies. Funding through national organizations, such as

360-445: A podcast called Can We Talk? hosted by Nahanni Rous. Rous is also joined by Judith Rosenbaum and Ibby Caputo. The show released its first episode on January 26, 2016 and continued to release episodes on a monthly basis. Each episode is only about twenty minutes in length. The show interviews Jewish women about news, politics, and culture. In one episode the hosts interview Anita Diamant about her book The Red Tent . The show

405-547: A poet, not a playwright, since plays during that time were written in meter and so were regarded as the province of poets. This view was held as late as the early 19th century. The term "playwright" later again lost this negative connotation. The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are the Ancient Greeks . These early plays were for annual Athenian competitions among play writers held around

450-408: A reaction to the decadence of Charles II era productions, sentimental comedy grew in popularity. Playwrights like Colley Cibber and Richard Steele believed that humans were inherently good but capable of being led astray. The Italian Renaissance brought about a stricter interpretation of Aristotle, as this long-lost work came to light in the late 15th century. The neoclassical ideal, which

495-525: A source of income, which has caused many of them to reduce the number of new works being produced. For example, Playwrights Horizons produced only six plays in the 2002–03 seasons, compared with thirty-one in 1973–74. Playwrights commonly encounter difficulties in getting their shows produced and often cannot earn a living through their plays alone, leading them to take up other jobs to supplement their incomes. Many playwrights are also film makers . For instance, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock began his career as

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540-683: A world still ingrained with traditional roles and expectations. In 2007 she was featured in the film Making Trouble , a tribute to female Jewish comedians, produced by the Jewish Women's Archive . Wasserstein also wrote the books to two musicals. Miami , written in collaboration with Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman , was presented at Playwrights Horizons in 1985–1986, and starred among others, Marcia Lewis , Phyllis Newman , Jane Krakowski , and Fisher Stevens . Pamela's First Musical , written with Cy Coleman and David Zippel , based on Wasserstein's children's book, received its world premiere in

585-611: Is a calendar of events that matches the current date with events in Jewish women's history. Notable staff and directors (as of 2023) include the CEO of JWA, Dr. Judith Rosenbaum. Their founding director is Dr. Gail Twersky Reimer. The current Chief Development Officer is Debra Cash, and their Chief Communications Officer and Encyclopedia Editor is Dr. Jennifer Sartori, co-director of the Adoption & Jewish Identity Project . Barbara Dobkin

630-594: Is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brookline , Massachusetts with the goal of using the Internet to increase awareness of and provide access to the stories of American Jewish women. JWA makes a growing collection of information, exhibits, and resources available via its website. Its activities include

675-692: Is accessible for free via JWA's website. The encyclopedia features approximately 2,000 articles on the lives and achievements of Jewish women. Articles are also disseminated via Twitter . In 2007 JWA produced Making Trouble , a documentary film about three generations of female Jewish comedians and the complexity and challenges of their relationship to comedy, Judaism and gender. The film profiles Molly Picon , Fanny Brice , Sophie Tucker , Joan Rivers , Gilda Radner , and Wendy Wasserstein as well as contemporary comedians Judy Gold and Jackie Hoffman . The film has been screened at over 70 film festivals and other venues. The Jewish Women's Archive produced

720-423: Is coincidental.) The first recorded use of the term "playwright" is from 1605, 73 years before the first written record of the term "dramatist". It appears to have been first used in a pejorative sense by Ben Jonson to suggest a mere tradesman fashioning works for the theatre. Jonson uses the word in his Epigram 49, which is thought to refer to John Marston or Thomas Dekker : Jonson described himself as

765-542: Is still useful to playwrights today is the " French scene ", which is a scene in a play where the beginning and end are marked by a change in the makeup of the group of characters onstage rather than by the lights going up or down or the set being changed. Notable playwrights: Greek theater was alive and flourishing on the island of Crete. During the Cretan Renaissance two notable Greek playwrights Georgios Chortatzis and Vitsentzos Kornaros were present in

810-468: Is why I like writing plays." Wasserstein commented that her parents allowed her to go to Yale only because they were certain she would meet an eligible lawyer there, get married, and lead a conventional life as a wife and mother. Although appreciative of the critical acclaim for her comedic streak, she described her work as "a political act", wherein sassy dialogue and farcical situations mask deep, resonant truths about intelligent, independent women living in

855-461: The City Dionysia's competition (the most prestigious of the festivals to stage drama), playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays (though the individual works were not necessarily connected by story or theme), which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play. For the ancient Greeks, playwriting involved poïesis , "the act of making". This is the source of

900-611: The Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections . The finding aid for this collection is available online at http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/mountholyoke/mshm325_main.html . Playwright The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are the Ancient Greeks . William Shakespeare is amongst the most famous playwrights in literature, both in England and across

945-624: The National Endowment for the Arts and the Theatre Communications Group , encouraged the partnerships of professional theatre companies and emerging playwrights. Playwrights will often have a cold reading of a script in an informal sitdown setting, which allows them to evaluate their own plays and the actors performing them. Cold reading means that the actors haven't rehearsed the work, or may be seeing it for

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990-549: The Tony Award , the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize , and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play The Heidi Chronicles . Her plays, which explore topics ranging from feminism to family to ethnicity to pop culture, include The Sisters Rosensweig , Isn't It Romantic , An American Daughter , Old Money , and her last work, which opened in 2005, Third . During her career, which spanned nearly four decades, Wasserstein wrote eleven plays, winning

1035-484: The Yale School of Drama in 1976. In 1990 she received an honoris causa Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Mount Holyoke College and in 2002 she received an honoris causa degree from Bates College . Wasserstein's first production of note was Uncommon Women and Others (her graduate thesis at Yale ), a play which reflected her experiences as a student at, and an alumna of, Mount Holyoke College . The play

1080-459: The interregnum , and Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, there was a move toward neoclassical dramaturgy. Between the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the end of the 17th century, classical ideas were in vogue. As a result, critics of the time mostly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Jonson. This period saw the first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn . As

1125-468: The 13th century. The majority of these plays come from France and Germany and are similar in tone and form, emphasizing sex and bodily excretions. The best known playwright of farces is Hans Sachs (1494–1576) who wrote 198 dramatic works. In England, The Second Shepherds' Play of the Wakefield Cycle is the best known early farce. However, farce did not appear independently in England until

1170-584: The 16th century with the work of John Heywood (1497–1580). Playwright William Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Most playwrights of the period typically collaborated with others at some point, as critics agree Shakespeare did, mostly early and late in his career. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. In England, after

1215-473: The 5th century BC. Such notables as Aeschylus , Sophocles , Euripides , and Aristophanes established forms still relied on by their modern counterparts. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides . The origins of Athenian tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century it was institutionalised in competitions ( agon ) held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysos (the god of wine and fertility ). As contestants in

1260-424: The English word poet . Despite Chinese Theatre having performers dated back to the 6th century BC with You Meng , their perspective of theatre was such that plays had no other role than "performer" or "actor", but given that the performers were also the ones who invented their performances, they could be considered a form of playwright. Outside of the Western world there is Indian classical drama , with one of

1305-741: The Institute for Southern Jewish History, JWA conducted 85 interviews with members of the New Orleans , Baton Rouge , and Gulf Coast Jewish communities which are included in the exhibit. Other online exhibits include Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution, History Makers: Women of Valor and Women Who Dared: Contemporary Activists. We Remember is an online collection of personal reflections and reminiscences about recently deceased notable American Jewish women. This Week in History

1350-690: The Legacy, focuses on the role of Jewish women in the Civil Rights Movement and labor movement , seeking to highlight their often-neglected but central role. Additional educational resources include 18 "Go & Learn" lesson plans, book and film guides, primary source materials and mother-daughter workshop materials. Previous curricula include Making Our Wilderness Bloom. The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women edited by Jennifer Sartori, formerly Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia edited by Paula Hyman and Dalia Ofer ,

1395-584: The United States from Poland when her father was accused of being a spy. Wasserstein "once described her mother as being like ' Auntie Mame '". Lola Wasserstein reportedly inspired some of her daughter's characters. Wendy was the youngest of five siblings, including brother Bruce Wasserstein , a well-known investment banker. Her maternal grandfather was Simon Schleifer, a yeshiva teacher in Włocławek , Poland, who moved to Paterson, New Jersey , and became

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1440-559: The conception, production and dissemination of: Starting in 2010, JWA also began holding an Annual Luncheon in New York City at which it honors three women for their activism and achievements. In 2010 the focus was on the Triangle Fire (2010 was the centenary of that tragedy). Honorees included Ruth J. Abram (co-founder of the Tenement Museum ), Kate Frucher (attorney and entrepreneur), and journalist Lynn Sherr . In 2011

1485-516: The first time, and usually, the technical requirements are minimal. The O'Neill Festival offers summer retreats for young playwrights to develop their work with directors and actors. Playwriting collectives like 13P and Orbiter 3 gather members together to produce, rather than develop, new works. The idea of the playwriting collective is in response to plays being stuck in the development process and never advancing to production. Jewish Women%27s Archive The Jewish Women's Archive ( JWA )

1530-490: The latter part of the 16th century. The plays of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Friedrich Schiller , and other Sturm und Drang playwrights inspired a growing faith in feeling and instinct as guides to moral behavior and were part of the German romanticism movement. Aleksandr Ostrovsky was Russia's first professional playwright). Author and playwright Agatha Christie wrote The Moustrap ,

1575-487: The luncheon was titled "Making Trouble / Making History." Gloria Steinem presented the awards, which were given to Elizabeth A. Sackler (The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum ), Rebecca Traister (author, Big Girls Don't Cry , journalist), and Letty Cottin Pogrebin (author, "Deborah, Golda, and Me," etc., journalist, founding editor, "Ms magazine" ). JWA's most recent curriculum, Living

1620-433: The oldest known playwrights being Śudraka , whose attributed plays can be dated to the second century BC. The Nāṭya Shāstra , a text on the performing arts from between 500BC-500AD, categorizes playwrights as being among the members of a theatre company, although playwrights were generally the highest in social status, with some being kings. In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle wrote his Poetics , in which he analyzed

1665-435: The principle of action or praxis as the basis for tragedy. He then considered elements of drama: plot ( μύθος mythos ), character ( ἔθος ethos ), thought ( dianoia ), diction ( lexis ), music ( melodia ), and spectacle ( opsis ). Since the myths on which Greek tragedy were based were widely known, plot had to do with the arrangement and selection of existing material. Character

1710-485: The unities. Decorum fitted proper protocols for behavior and language on stage. In France, contained too many events and actions, thus, violating the 24-hour restriction of the unity of time. Neoclassicism never had as much traction in England, and Shakespeare 's plays are directly opposed to these models, while in Italy, improvised and bawdy commedia dell'arte and opera were more popular forms. One structural unit that

1755-426: The world. The word "play" is from Middle English pleye , from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsperson or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright ). The words combine to indicate a person who has "wrought" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form—a play. (The homophone with "write"

1800-714: Was determined by choice and by action. Tragedy is mimesis —"the imitation of an action that is serious". He developed his notion of hamartia , or tragic flaw, an error in judgment by the main character or protagonist , which provides the basis for the "conflict-driven" play. There were also a number of secular performances staged in the Middle Ages, the earliest of which is The Play of the Greenwood by Adam de la Halle in 1276. It contains satirical scenes and folk material such as faeries and other supernatural occurrences. Farces also rose dramatically in popularity after

1845-599: Was featured in Steve Olsher's "Ultimate Directory of Podcasters" as one of the top ten podcasts about Judaism as well as one of the top ten religion and spirituality podcasts. Katrina's Jewish Voices is an online exhibit of photos, blog posts, podcasts, and email messages documenting the experience of the Jewish community during and after Hurricane Katrina , produced in collaboration with the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University In partnership with

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1890-806: Was hospitalized with lymphoma in December 2005 and died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on January 30, 2006, at age 55. News of her death was unexpected because her illness had not been widely publicized outside the theater community. The night after she died, Broadway 's lights were dimmed in her honor. In addition to her daughter, Wasserstein was survived by her mother and three siblings, Abner Wasserstein (who died 2011), businessman Bruce Wasserstein (who died in 2009), and Wilburton Inn owner Georgette Wasserstein Levis (who died in 2014). The Wendy Wasserstein Papers, 1954–2006, are available to researchers at

1935-552: Was named the President's Council of Cornell Women Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large in 2005. Wasserstein gave birth to a daughter, Lucy Jane, in 1999 when she was 48 years old. The baby, who was conceived via in vitro fertilization, was three months premature and is recorded in Wasserstein's collection of essays, Shiksa Goddess . Wasserstein, who was not married, never publicly identified her daughter's father. Wasserstein

1980-499: Was to reach its apogee in France during the 17th century, dwelled upon the unities , of action, place, and time. This meant that the playwright had to construct the play so that its "virtual" time would not exceed 24 hours, that it would be restricted to a single setting, and that there would be no subplots. Other terms, such as verisimilitude and decorum, circumscribed the subject matter significantly. For example, verisimilitude limits of

2025-553: Was workshopped at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in 1977, and a full version of the play was produced in 1977 Off-Broadway with Glenn Close , Jill Eikenberry , and Swoosie Kurtz playing the lead roles. The play was subsequently produced for PBS with Meryl Streep replacing Close. While at Yale, she co-wrote a musical with fellow student Christopher Durang , When Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth . In 1989, she won

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