Sometimes life’s very ordinary events can bring about valuable life lessons and applications such as evident in Wendy Wasserstein’s comic drama “Uncommon Women and Others.”

Wasserstein tells the story of the reunion of five college classmates of the prestigious Mt. Holyoke College. In this mostly autobiographical story, Wasserstein flashes back to the lives of these women during college.

She compares and contrasts the dreams of her characters during college, with their lives in the real world. “Uncommon Women and Others,” brought Wasserstein recognition in 1977, though it was not her first attempt at a play.

Born in Brooklyn, New York on October 18, 1950, Wasserstein is the daughter of a textile manufacturer and a housewife. Raised on Manhattan’s upper east side and educated at Calhoun School, Wasserstein first became interested in writing while attending Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

She was a sophomore, majoring in history, when she enrolled in a summer playwriting course. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College in 1971, she majored in creative writing at City College of City University in New York.

Her first play, “Any Woman Can’t,” was presented Off Broadway right after graduation. She worked with a non-profit theatre group called, Playwrights Horizons.

Wasserstein continued her studies in Fine Arts at Yale University’s School of Drama. She received her Masters’ Degree in 1976.

Directly after that, “Uncommon Women and Others” hit the stage, and another play went into production in 1981. Wasserstein wasn’t excited about the reviews for the play, and revised her work.

The show, “Isn’t It Romantic,” reopened at the Phoenix Theater in December of 1983. Wasserstein then moved into the role of producer for the Public Broadcast System. It wasn’t until the mid 1980s that Wasserstein received accolades for her most notable and successful play, the Heidi Chronicles.

The UWA theatre production of Wasserstein’s play will be presented Wednesday, March 17 through Saturday, March 20.

Doors will open at 7 p.m., with performances beginning at 7:30 p.m. each evening at Bibb Graves Auditorium on the UWA campus.

Uncommon Women and Others contains strong language and may be appropriate for all audiences. General admission is $7. UWA students will be admitted free with current ID.