Clayton Community Theatre presents Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein, directed by Karen Pierce and Jessa Knust.

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Performances: Thursday - Saturday October 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22, 2022, at 8:00 p.m; Sundays October 16 and 23 at 2:00 p.m.

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Location: Washington University South Campus Theater, 6501 Clayton Road, Clayton MO

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Directors: Karen Pierce and Jessa Knust

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The year is 1978. Eight women - who six years earlier were classmates at a prestigious, New England women’s college during the heady early years of the women’s movement - share memories and reflect on how their lives have unfolded so far, in light of their own expectations and those of society.

 

Wasserstein’s characters strive to define and chart new paths for themselves in a challenging world still fraught with traditional stereotypes. Uncommon Women and Others was her breakthrough play; Wasserstein wrote it in 1975 while earning a graduate degree at Yale Drama School and revised it in 1977. The play entered the public consciousness soon after its debut in 1978 in New York City; it remains very popular and is still frequently performed today.

 

Uncommon Women and Others is a powerful ensemble piece, both serious and comedic in its observance of human behavior. It was performed by the likes of young Swoozie Kurtz, young Glenn Close and young Meryl Streep. Its monologues are some of the most popular among actors and students. One of the treats of the play is its wealth of cultural references.

 

Four and a half decades later, the themes of Uncommon Women and Others still resonate. “It was a shifting time, and these characters had to make choices between being traditional and being modern,” says co-director Knust, who has been active with CCT for the past six years. “Nobody quite fits. This is a play that gets people thinking.”

 

“Whether you’re a feminist or not, it’s about being an adult – figuring out what it means to be an adult,” says co-director Pierce who, coincidentally, attended the same college as the play’s characters (Mount Holyoke, where Wasserstein also attended as an undergrad) and performed in it there, in the role of Carter. “The world you graduated into doesn’t necessarily match the world you prepared for.”

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More information about the play, on Wikipedia: at this link

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Press photos: coming soon

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