Michelle Monteith on The Heidi Chronicles and its complex lead

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Michelle Monteith is the titular lead in the Soulpepper revival of The Heidi Chronicles, Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize winning drama from 1988. The Globe spoke to the talented Toronto actress about the character, and the late playwright.

The Heidi Chronicles, from 1988, is seen as a landmark feminist play, but what about the role of Heidi? Can we classify her as an iconic character?

It was regarded as a political play at the time. As you say, a feminist play. I think what Wendy Wasserstein was trying to do with The Heidi Chronicles was to show different kinds of relationships, and to show a different kind of leading character we don't see very often on stage.

A different kind a leading character we didn't see, or a different kind of character we still don't see?

I'm not sure it's changed. It's not just the lead character Heidi either. The portrayal of the gay character, Peter, was quite a new thing to see on stage at the time. We're more used to seeing these characters on stage now, but it's done in such a rich and complex and non-stereotypical way with The Heidi Chronicles that it's still seen as refreshing for audiences, unfortunately.

What's your take on Heidi?

She's a very idealistic person who is trying to live her life the way she feels she needs to live it. Everyone around her is telling her what she should or shouldn't do, and that affects her. There's a sadness to her. She comes to terms with it, but I think she struggles with why she's sad. What is she missing? Has she made mistakes? She questions her worth and where she fits in the world.

But she's not just contemplative about herself though, right?

No, she's a keen observer of people, both with a big heart and sharp judgments as well. Wendy doesn't let her off the hook, in terms of feeling judged and also being a judger.

Let's talk about you. Iconic or not, Heidi is a big role. Can you talk about landing it, in the context of your career so far?

It's been a big challenge. I don't leave the stage. Although I've played lead characters, including title characters before, there's something about the scope of this one. But she's not always the character who speaks the most in each scene. She has a lot to say, and she's a smart, funny person, but in terms of the characters around her, she's more reserved. So the challenge is trying to find the way of getting inside of that, when I don't have the words.

And how's that going so far?

It's exciting, trying to unlock something that I'm not really given a key to. It's identifying who she is, by the people around her.

How do you identify with the character personally?

When it comes to juggling between family and career, and where, as women, do we find our wealth, these are questions we ask. And also how critical we are of each other and each other's choices. I think Wendy is hard on women in this play, as I think we are in life. I don't have to dig very deep to understand her position.

When you look at the script, the final stage direction reads, "Lights fade, as Heidi rocks." She's in a rocking chair with a baby, but taken another way, let me ask you, does Heidi rock?

I love that. I never thought of that. She's made a choice to become a single mother, and I think that's incredibly brave. And she's stayed to true to who she is, when everybody around her is asking that she not be that. I think that takes courage. So, yes, to answer your question, Heidi rocks.

The Heidi Chronicles opens May 23 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts (soulpepper.ca).

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A thoughtful take on feminism

The Heidi Chronicles, winner of high recognition by both the Tony crowd and the Pulitzer people upon its Broadway debut in 1989, is a cleverly crafted episodic drama with humour by the late New Yorker Wendy Wassertsein. Covering the sixties, seventies and eighties, the somewhat autobiographical play is a portrait of the playwright's generation and a thoughtful, penetrating take on feminism.

Heidi's search for self is both joyful and poignant, and her close friends include the big-headed idealist Scoop Rosenbaum and the gay pediatrician Peter Patrone.

In 1995, the play was adapted as a television film. In 2015, a revival starring Elisabeth Moss, Jason Biggs and Bryce Pinkham had a short, financially unsuccessful run on Broadway. In between, in 2006, the gifted Wasserstein died, at age 55, of lymphoma.

In Toronto, the production marks the directorial debut of the Nova Scotian actor Gregory Prest and stars the veteran thespian Michelle Monteith.

– Brad Wheeler