Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Bess Wohl’s LIBERATION grapples with the unresolved strides of the feminist movement from dual perspectives

• By drediman
• February 21, 2025
• No Comments

Last night, Bess Wohl’s deceptively straightforward new play Liberation opened Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company. The work is based on the playwright’s musings about her own mother, who during the 1970s in a small town in Ohio — prior to getting married and having children — established and moderated a weekly meet-up group for women interested in discussing and learning about feminist issues.

Wohl’s latest play is one of her best plays to date, the culmination of themes and playwriting techniques she showcased in well-received plays like Small Mouth Sounds and Grand Horizons. The playwright has an inclination towards writing ensemble-based plays that feature diverse sets of characters, and this play is no different. Liberation features six women — each vividly rendered with care — of notably different backgrounds and temperaments. Over the course of the play, they exhibit their depth and complexity, particularly as it relates to the dilemma of reconciling their increasingly revolutionary ideals with prevailing notions of marriage and motherhood. All of this is accomplished through the lens of a fourth wall breaking meta-theatrical device — think Our Town — which effectively creates a portal to and from an imagined past, in which Wohl is given the illuminating if ultimately heartbreaking ability to grapple with the unresolved strides of the feminist movement from both her mother’s and her own perspective.

Under Whitney White’s patient and clear-eyed direction, the play explores its subject matter with a searching thoroughness that sheds light on its many nuances. The cast is uniformly excellent, led by the reliable stage veteran Susannah Flood as both the daughter/narrator — the Bess Wohl stand-in — and her mother. Flood navigates the often abrupt shifts between characters with great skill and empathy. The rest of the very accomplished ensemble treat their respective characters with great respect and authenticity, fully embracing their contradictions and frustrations. Together, they make for a convincing sisterhood.

RECOMMENDED

LIBERATION
Off-Broadway, Play
Roundabout Theatre Company at the Laura Pels Theatre
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through March 30