adieu, Wendy

I read this morning that playwright Wendy Wasserstein had passed away after a battle with cancer. She was 55 and should have been in the prime of her literary life. It's a sad way to start the week. I truly enjoyed her vision and her way with words.

The Heidi Chronicles (which won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize), The Sisters Rosensweig, An American Daughter were all classic plays about modern women and the struggles they face. I admired them all. To understand the reach and impact of Wasserstein's work, look no further than the incredible list of actresses who starred in her plays: Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Swoosie Kurtz, Joan Allen, Diane Wiest, Jill Eickenberry, Kate Nelligan and so many more. However, it wasn't star power that made Wasserstein so important to the collective conscience. It was the words she wrote -- the words that drew so many powerful women to want to say them on stage.

Way back when, living in Seattle, we would be treated to whatever play Wasserstein had just finished in a trial run through a Seattle repertory company. I particulary enjoyed "An American Daughter." It was a local production with local actors, but you could see that, even in its earliest incarnation, that this was sharply written, incisive play about the toll politics takes on families and individual lives.

It's sad whenever a powerful voice is stilled -- even a voice you don't agree with. More so when it's a voice in which you have found inspiration or has sparked a vibrant debate between friends.

Living in the Pacific Northwest you do not have the access to great live theater the way you do in New York, so I wasn't able to see all of her work produced on stage. But I have read her work and enjoyed it very much -- finding insight in each play. To me, that is a powerful statement to make about someone's work for the stage: Is it still a good read all on its own? In the case of Wendy Wasserstein, the answer is a profound yes.

More soon.