#2
Posted: 2/1/25 at 1:11am
I thought it was an oddly timely play considering the subject matter and the fact it is a memory play. It raises a litany of very interesting topics in a relatable way that manages not to preach and prompts real thought. These women are doing some beautiful work- all of their characters seem so well developed, a credit to Wohl and acted with fearless honesty for so early in previews. I’d love to see this later in performances again because it will only get tighter and their relationship as a cast will develop and only help the piece really catch fire. The costumes enhance who each of these women are and the set is impressive for such a small space. I’d recommend a mask, there is a lot of smoking herbal cigarettes. Be ready to lock your phone in a Yonder pouch- I personally think all shows should do this regardless of nudity or not- it’s so nice not to have any interruptions.
#3
Posted: 2/9/25 at 12:23am
this almost gets there... the writing is fantastic, kudos to Bess Wohl for creating so many distinct real characters, but its a memory play that turns on a series of meetings amongst activist women in a high school gym in 1970s ohio. so the action is limited to those meetings, or descriptions about stuff that happened outside the meetings, or breaking-the-4th-wall exposition.
the latter is surprisingly moving- it starts out funny, gets grating, but ends up packing a bit of a punch. the play goes in and our of straight narration vs meta discussion of itself and it often feels like a lecture. there were alot of walk-outs during intermission, and I guess I understand that, but i am glad i stayed. theres QUITE the act 2 opener, and some very funny/touching moments that are the payoff for a slow burn Wohl has for us.
regardless of the weaknesses in the play, the ACTING MY GOD! Betsy Aidem can do no wrong and shes sublime here. Same goes for Susannah Flood, who I feel like i saw on this stage 20 minutes ago in The Counter, and who grounds/closes the play beautifully. Irene Sofia Lucio is hilarious, Kristolyn Lloyd is fire--its just some really brave and intricate performances that kept me invested for Wohl's touching, honest conclusion.
thats enough for me.
#4
Posted: 2/9/25 at 12:05pm
Some of Whol's better writing, compared to Camp Siegfried & Make Believe. Flood holds it down with her natural approach. The whole cast is strong. The length of nudity is the most we've seen in a show. Shocking at first but then feels "normal", interesting and brave choice for the fight of injustice, connection of characters, beauty of women and their bodies.
We will be returning. The show can be tightened and cut in places to streamline. Whol and White will hopefully get this sharpened by opening. One of the better off-Broadway plays this season, even in early previews.
Updated On: 2/10/25 at 12:05 PM
#5
Posted: 2/9/25 at 6:19pm
This is extraordinary theater. At 2 and a half hours, I would have been more than happy to give these women another 2 and a half. As said above, the cast is perfect - each and every one. I didn't see any walk outs today, in fact it was a very strong positive reaction from the audience, many people (myself included) wiping tears away a few times. And I never felt it was preachy or grating, even for a moment. Timely of course, but not either of those.
If you want to get me to see a show, I just need to hear that it's a "memory play" - my absolute favorite kind of play. They're a very tricky kind of thing to get right but when they DO get it right, you get something like this and it's something I'll be revisiting again before the run ends.
#6
Posted: 2/9/25 at 11:54pm
well said, Jordan C, though I disagree a bit (i wish more HAPPENED). but her writing and character building is phenomenal, a true talent. and I still have Betsy Aidem ringing in my head 24 hours later.
#7
Posted: 2/10/25 at 10:38am
This is going to come off as snark and it's not, I promise (I hate you can't express tone online). What else did you want to happen? I'm just genuinely curious what else you had wanted to see in the story.
#8
Posted: 2/11/25 at 7:15pm
Not snarky at all....and i agree that theres little more irritating than "i wish the playwright had done xyz" so I am not at all trying to rewrite the play here. She told the story she wanted to tell!
But that doesnt mean I cant react to what she decided to show/tell, and found it a little dull- its a series of meetings in a gym, which required alot of TELLING about their lives rather than SHOWING. and if I was at a workshop and anyone asked me, I'd want more scenes where we dip out and see the woman in their lives. I wanted more of Adina Verson's bird and religious family, and would have paid money to see Betsy Aidem at her family home. those are just spitball ideas that im sharing to highlight why i found it, as is, a little slow- not trying to dictate how the story is told.
and to be clear- i liked it!
#9
Posted: 2/14/25 at 12:18pm
I also thought that Adina Verson’s character needed more fleshing out. Overall I liked the characterizations and all of the performances but the structure of the play distracted from its poignancy for me. I am not a fan of breaking the fourth wall so that didn’t help and it could easily lose 20 minutes. My hope is that I get to revisit this later in the run to find more distinction about who Lizzie (Susannah Flood) is and what all the Liberation memories reveal to alter her feelings. This wasn’t clear to me.
#10
Posted: 2/17/25 at 10:26am
I came away from this play equally impressed and frustrated with Bess Wohl as a writer. What on earth is this show?
I found an interview with Wohl where she referred to Libration as a time-traveling play. It's definitely not that, as at no time are we meant to believe Lizzie' daughter is really in 1970 or can she change the past. We are meant to believe it's a memory play, but whose memory? The daughter has some details her mom gave her and she interviewed some of the surviving women in the group, but the POV character wasn't alive in 1970.
On a technical level, this is not a memory play, these are speculative memories. Which considering Wohl did not make this explicitly autobiographical seems unnecessarily complicated. The constant fourth wall breaking, to explain what's real and unknown doesn't make sense because it's all fiction. The theme of having to choose between prioritizing yourself or prioritizing your loved ones, specifically through the lens of second-wave feminism, could be explored just as deeply without the convoluted framing device.
Make it a real time travel story or have a surviving member of the group explain to the daughter what really happened as the framing device.
That said, I still thought the play was incredibly funny and poignant.
#11
Posted: 2/20/25 at 11:49pm
Rave review from Jesse Green:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/theater/bess-wohl-liberation-review.html
This is one of the best plays I’ve seen in a while with an exquisite cast & direction by Whitney White.
#12
Posted: 2/21/25 at 5:37am
GET 2-FOR-I TICKETS
USE CODE OBW25
FOR PERFORMANCES FEB. 17-MAR. 9
https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/2024-2025/liberation?url=%2Fget-tickets%2F2024-2025%2Fliberation
#13
Posted: 2/21/25 at 10:39am
Saw this a few days before opening night. I think it’s incredible piece of theater. The fact that Roundabout has this play and English running for the next week or so is crazy. Two of the absolute best plays I’ve seen in a good long while.
#14
Posted: 2/21/25 at 10:45am
I'm admittedly jumping to conclusions 1.5 months into the year, but this feels like something the Pulitzer Prizes might take to...
#15
Posted: 2/21/25 at 10:57am
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I'm admittedly jumping to conclusions 1.5 months into the year, but this feels like something the Pulitzer Prizes might take to..."
For sure! It’s never too early. I said the same thing about English as I was walking out of the theater during previews at Atlantic. It’d be pretty surprising if something comes along that feels more Pulitzer worthy than Liberation.
#16
Posted: 2/21/25 at 11:47am
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Rave review from Jesse Green:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/theater/bess-wohl-liberation-review.html
This is one of the best plays I’ve seen in a while with an exquisite cast & direction by Whitney White."
Anyone have a gift link?
#17
Posted: 2/21/25 at 12:06pm
Ptero2 said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Rave review from Jesse Green:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/theater/bess-wohl-liberation-review.html
This is one of the best plays I’ve seen in a while with an exquisite cast & direction by Whitney White."
Anyone have a gift link?"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/theater/bess-wohl-liberation-review.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yk4.N6MU.gxQGoIGphUnF&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#19
Posted: 2/21/25 at 3:19pm
Another rave (and a better written one) from Sara Holdren at Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/article/liberation-bess-wohl-play-theater-review.html
"Liberation Is the Best Play I’ve Seen This Season"
I loved the play and am thrilled with the reception. Well-deserved!
#20
Posted: 2/22/25 at 12:29am
Lots of respect to everyone who enjoyed this one. I still need a couple days to really figure out how to articulate my thoughts in a way that isn't disrespectful to the artists involved, but I'll say this now while the viewing is super fresh: I loathed this script.
But the one positive thing I can say is that Betsy Aidem is just glorious in this. Uneven performances aside, she runs away with this whole thing. Her "list" monologue is a dent in making this worthwhile viewing.
#21
Posted: 2/22/25 at 8:23am
Falsettolands said: "Lots of respect to everyone who enjoyed this one. I still need a couple days to really figure out how to articulate my thoughts in a way that isn't disrespectful to the artists involved, but I'll say this now while the viewing is super fresh: I loathed this script.
But the one positive thing I can say is that Betsy Aidem is just glorious in this. Uneven performances aside, she runs away with this whole thing. Her "list" monologue is a dent in making this worthwhile viewing."
I certainly didnt loathe the script but I wasnt as enamored with it as everyone else is--- maybe I saw too early a preview, or maybe to each their own.
but i do want to echo that while I was impressed with the whole cast, weeks later it is Betsy Aidems performance that has stuck with me, that "list" monologue in particular.
#22
Posted: 2/22/25 at 9:38am
PipingHotPiccolo: …but i do want to echo that while I was impressed with the whole cast, weeks later it is Betsy Aidems performance that has stuck with me, that "list" monologue in particular.
I feel exactly the same.
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And every time I pour my coffee in a cup I think of her husband pouring his in a bowl.
Updated On: 2/22/25 at 09:38 AM
#23
Posted: 2/22/25 at 7:33pm
What a marvel this play is! So much humor and pathos about a daughter trying to excavate this history of her mom. The play breaks free from traditional storytelling at times, which only served to prove form should always be dictated by content.
The cast is perfection. The direction is beautiful. A more perfect production of this play I cannot imagine. As others have said, the second act nude scene is incredible for how bold it is and yet how earned it is.
I was so moved by this play. One thing, it’s flawed and the sum is not greater than its parts. Still, a great night in the theatre.
#24
Posted: 2/28/25 at 10:58pm
Wow i absolutely adored this play. Last year when i saw Water for Elephants I was screaming how I never wanted to see another memory play in my life. This really is a rather fresh take on the concept. Maybe I’m still done with memory plays but docustyle quasi-memory memoirs like this are hitting the spot.
Updated On: 2/28/25 at 10:58 PM
#25
Posted: 3/2/25 at 9:50am
Huge Kudos to White for her direction. Given the two (or really three) time periods, different actors playing the same characters, the same actor playing different characters and the actors in the same costumes in the present and the past, I was never confused as to when each scene took place. I do think the play was a bit too long and a character or two not fully drawn out, but boy what a fun evening. And when a line in the opening monologue elicits such a strong audience reaction — well that is theatrical magic.
Besides the NYT, does anyone have a link to any to reviews?
Updated On: 3/2/25 at 09:50 AM
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