Uncommon woman: an interview with Wendy Wasserstein

Abstract

Challenged BY my esteemed editor to write a printable article on women writers and humor in theatre (try to imagine a scene from The Front Page, only in an Indian restaurant — “Esther, get me that article, and pass the poori!”), I decided that I had nothing to say that one such writer couldn’t say for herself. Thus, with the lure of a bottle of Diet Coke and the promise of being quoted in an academic journal, Wendy Wasserstein agreed to be interviewed for this article. I met Wendy, the noted playwright, author of “Uncommon Women and Others”, “Isn’t it Romantic?” and “Miami”, and a contributing editor to “New York Woman”, while working as a stage manager on “Isn’t It Romantic?”, and I knew her to be a witty, straightforward and eminently quotable woman. Eager to hear her views on humor, in both her work and her life, I met with Wendy on a sweltering afternoon in August, 1987.