by Tim Leininger

Betsy Aidem, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Adina Verson, Audrey Corsa and Susannah Flood in the Broadway production of Liberation by Bess Wohl, directed by Whitney White ©Little Fang

            As a critic it’s a privilege to be invited once to review what ends up being one of the best plays of the year. To get invited a second time when that play moves from off-Broadway to Broadway is like Santa Claus inviting you to reach into his bag of presents and having your Christmas wish manifest in your hands. Such is how I felt getting invited to review for the second time Bess Wohl’s magnificent study of second-wave feminism in her play Liberation, winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the Drama Desk for Outstanding Ensemble, now running through Jan. 11 at the James Earl Jones Theatre at 138 W. 48^th St. in New York City.

            Though not a memory play in the strictest sense of the word, the play focuses on six women as they come together in a women’s rights group held in a basement gym in 1970 Ohio. The group is formed by Lizzie (Susannah Flood), a journalist who wants to cover hard news, but has been relegated to writing weddings and obituaries for the local newspaper. Flood also portrays Lizzie’s daughter, who is credited with the same name and narrates the story. The younger Lizzie is looking for answers about her mom and why it seems that she abandoned her pursuit for the advancement of feminist ideals. Over the course of the next two-plus hours we get a vivid, inspiring, and sometimes explicit, journey as they overcome their personal anxieties and fears to come together with a unified objective. This journey comes with disagreements with how those objectives should be reached and discovering that as noble as fighting for things like equal pay, the right to own property without a male co-signer, and body autonomy, feminism goes deeper than fighting for the larger, necessary social, cultural, and political issues.

Betsy Aidem, Kristolyn Lloyd, Adina Verson, Audrey Corsa, Irene Sofia Lucio and Susannah Flood in the Broadway production of Liberation by Bess Wohl, directed by Whitney White ©Little Fang

            It is apparent that Wohl, director Whitney White, and the whole cast have profound affection for these characters as they each get moments throughout to address some of the more pressing issues for each woman, for example Margie’s (Betsy Aidem) marital problems and self-image issues that come with age, or Susan (Adina Verson) who is unemployed and living in her car.

            As much as the play is about women’s rights, Wohl avoides making the characters into cookie cutter stereotypes. Though they all have mutual objectives, who they are is quite diverse. Margie and Dora (Audrey Corsa) have more conservative qualities than the more liberal Isidora (Irene Sofia Lucio) and Susan. Meanwhile, Kristolyn Lloyd gives Celeste a more logically reserved quality that comes off more centered. Meanwhile, there is a seventh woman, Joanne (Kayla Davion), who approaches the group from an ancillary position as the group meets during the evening during the week and she has children to take care of, which addresses a whole other feminist concern.

            But the play always returns to Lizzie, as the younger Lizzie tries to understand her mother’s perspective through all this, especially when Bill (Charlie Thurston), her father, enters the drama. Both Lizzies are the emotional center of the play as both fo them attempt to make sense of it all from different points in time. Flood does a great job of bringing the audience in for their moments of curiosity, frustration, and enlightenment, allowing us to empathize with them, even when the younger Lizzie is at a loss with the choices her mother makes.

Susannah Flood in the Broadway production of Liberation by Bess Wohl, directed by Whitney White ©Little Fang

            From a production aspect, a key element is making sure the audience knows which Lizzie is speaking at any given moment, and I think the Broadway version has tightened up the cues in Cha See’s lighting design with Palmer Hefferan and Ben Truppin-Brown’s sound design, supporting Flood’s acting, making it clear which Lizzie Flood is playing from one line to the next in a scene.

            The cast hasn’t changed from the off-Broadway run, and the ensemble only seem to have gotten better since the off-Broadway run at the Laura Pels Theatre. There is an urgency in their performance; a plea for the audience to remember where we’ve been, the fragility of what has been achieved, and what may be lost if we forget why activists of the second wave fought for what they did. Each performer gets their respective character to come from a different place, allowing audiences — regardless of gender — different access points to potentially connect with everyone.

            Liberation is one of the best new plays I’ve seen in my nine years of reviewing theater. It’s intelligent, the characters are diverse and complex, the story, even as a period piece, feels desperately important, and the cast, under the leadership of director Whitney White, are passionate about the message they’re presenting. If there is one play you see this holiday season, go see Liberation.

LIBERATION

TICKETS: https://liberationbway.com/

PRODUCTION

Written by Bess Wohl; Directed by Whitney White; Scenic Design: David Zinn; Costume Design: Qween Jean; Lighting Design: Cha See; Co-Sound Design: Palmer Hefferan, Ben Truppin-Brown; Hair & Wig Design: Nikiya Mathis; Intimacy Direction: Kelsey Rainwater; Voice & Dialect Coach: Gigi Buffington; Casting: C12 Casting, Jillian Cimini, CSA; Production manager: Sightline Productions; Advertising, Marketing & Website: AKA; Publicity: The Press Room; Social Media: Austin Pero; Production Stage Manager: Erin Gioia Albrecht; Company Manager: Susan Kaeppock; General Management: RCI Theatricals

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Betsy Aidem as Margie

Audrey Corsa as Dora

Kayla Davion as Joanne

Susannah Flood as Lizzie

Kristolyn Lloyd as Celeste

Irene Sofia Lucio as Isidora

Charlie Thurston as Bill

Adina Verson as Susan