LIBERATION Reviews

Positive from Variety

The Wrap is positive

Theatermania Is Positive

Washington Post is Positive

Daily Beast Loves It

DTLI Consensus: Sharp, funny, and moving, the feminist ensemble piece of the Broadway season has just arrived — and it simply cannot be missed.

16 positive (including the NYT).

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/liberation/

When was the last a show got 16 positive major reviews.  Ravi to them.

It’s a very good play, albeit a little pedantic.  That said: It’s not beating Giant. 

1 Minute Critic - 4 stars

Liberation balances both intellect and heart, which makes for a remarkable night of theater. As Lizzie gets closer to understanding her mother’s multi-faceted ambitions, one last trip through time may leave you sobbing. Full review here

What is unique is that Liberation has 17 positives, without any mixed or negatives. 

MILD SPOILERS, PLAYWRITING CRAFT NOT PLOT:

The critics got this very right. Everything can feel oversold, but Bess Wohl's play is that rarity: a script and production that somehow still offer more than what's anticipated. In outline, the play sounds schematic, a 70s consciousness raising group's evolution seems a predictable construct, with erupting internecine warfare and dollops of revelation and heartbreak. Yet from the outset, the piece refuses to fit squarely in any genre, to milk familiar tropes; at times - using meta self-awareness with genuine innovation - Wohl takes Wilder's conceit in The Skin of Our Teeth - these actors are all aware they're players - and pushes it forward in bold new ways. Wohl isn't exploiting a narrator merely for storytelling shorthand; she's commenting on how theater itself frames, explicates, sometimes reductively simplifies sociopolitical themes, remarkably while presenting a straightforward account of a protagonist's personal investigation of her origin story. One character's second appearance creates one of the most original uses of a broken 4th wall I've ever encountered, and manages to illuminate an entire sub-theme. As the second act deepens everything introduced in the wildly entertaining first act, the play mixes up its actors' tasks to amplify its protagonist's family in profoundly moving ways. The house this afternoon - blessedly sans the distraction of telephones - left in tears, thanks to the play's ideas and the thrill of their execution. It's only a 14-week run, and to me, truly unmissable

Brilliance. That's the only way to describe what I saw onstage at Liberation. It was pure and utter brilliance. I sat there, completely engrossed, as the lives of these ordinary women unraveled before my eyes and the show had me completely bawling by the end of their tales. Every single actor is working at the top of their game and if there was ever an argument to be made for a Best Ensemble Tony (besides John Proctor is the Villain last season), this would be it. I don't have a single note or thing I'd change. It was perfection. This may just be one of the best plays I've ever seen in my life. I am so very glad I went.

Updated On: 11/29/25 at 12:27 AM