A Highly Informed Spectator

Tonight is opening night of The Heidi Chronicles! We couldn't be more excited and we hope you'll join us sometime in the upcoming weeks. In preparation for the show, Dramaturg Paul Doyle gives insight into some of the references in the play we didn't all know.

Heidi’s journey as observer and outsider is steeped in the political movements, buzz words, and culture of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The names and concepts are touchstones are meant to anchor us in each scene through the years. In case you missed a few of the references, here’s a brief primer.

Weatherperson – At the party in 1968, Heidi uses this gender-neutral term to ask if Scoop is a member of the Weathermen (aka Weather Underground), a communist student movement, that became well know in the 1970s for a series of high-profile domestic bombings (described by former Weatherman Bill Ayers—remember that “scandal” during the 2008 presidential campaign?—as “symbolic acts of extreme vandalism”) in protest of the Vietnam War and meant to disrupt the government. The name comes from a lyric in Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

Herbert Marcuse – a German-born political philosopher whose critiques of consumerism and capitalism (best-known works include Eros and Civilization and One-Dimensional Man) strongly influenced both the student movements of the 1960 and the developing field of pop culture studies. Marcuse’s philosophy combined elements of Marxism, Freudian theory, and Hegelian dialecticism. To not be familiar with Marcuse would most definitely have raised eyebrows at a Gene McCarthy campaign party.

Consciousness-raising – Jill and Fran’s women’s rap group was part of the growing feminist movement of the late 60’s and early 1970’s. In discussing and analyzing events in their lives (“rapping”), these women-only gatherings aimed to make the participants aware of systematic oppression in their lives, and offer support in identifying it, analyzing it, and fighting back.

“Erlichperson” and “Haldeperson” – Peter is using gender-neutral terminology to refer to John Ehrlichman and Harry Haldeman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs and Chief of Staff (respectively) during the Nixon administration. By this point in history, both men had resigned from their posts in the fallout from the Watergate scandal. In a year, they would both be serving federal prison sentences.

Florine Stettheimer -- A lesser-known Modernist painter (1871 – 1944), known for painting fanciful representations of Broadway, Fifth avenue, and other New York scenes. She also designed the sets and costumes for Four Saints in Three Acts, a 1934 opera by Vigil Thompson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein.

Laura Nyro – female vocalist whose work blended gospel, avant-garde jazz, and pop music forms into a series of critically-acclaimed albums in the late sixties and early seventies. Pretty good stuff.

Judy Chicago – Feminist visual artist, active since the 1960s. By 1974, Chicago had already founded feminist art programs at CSU Fresno, Cal Arts, and the Los Angeles Women’s Building. In the late seventies, Chicago would create her most famous work, The Dinner Party, consisting of a triangular table with place settings for 39 famous women of myth and history.

Felix Frankfurter – An associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1939-1962, Frankfurter’s formative years were spent on New York’s Lower East Side, saving money for Harvard Law School and attending leftist lectures at the Cooper Union. Early in his career, his progressive views brought him to the defense of leftists and radicals (he wrote a scathing critique of the case against Sacco and Vanzetti), but his strong preference for judicial restraint (upholding a piece of legislation unless it is obviously unconstitutional) placed him in the conservative wing of the Supreme Court. He taught at Harvard Law before joining the court and had an annoying habit of lecturing his colleagues at length during meetings.

“Mass weeping with Yoko in Central Park” – John Lennon was shot and killed by stalker Mark Chapman on December 8, 1980 outside his home at the Dakota building in New York City. This mention of the memorial for Lennon places us on Sunday, December 14, 1980, when an enormous crowd gathered in Central Park for a memorial service.

Reaganomics – Hot topic starting in the early eighties, during Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign. In brief, Reagan’s policies sought to leave behind the economic malaise of the 1970s by reducing government spending, reducing taxes, and removing government regulation of industry.

“Death of the ERA” – The Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional change stating that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Introduced in every session of Congress from 1923 to 1970, it was passed by Congress in 1972, but failed to be ratified by the state legislatures by the deadline of June 30, 1982. It was most recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives on July 21, 2009.

The Ethical Culture School – Scoop refers this famous New York private school at the McCarthy party where he meets Heidi, and again when he reveals that he’s late for his son’s fourth grade play (an adaptation of Gunter Grass’s violent allegory for post-World War II Germany The Wicked Cooks). The school is known for its progressive educational philosophy and emphasis on ethical instruction and community service.