| Liberation | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Bess Wohl |
| Date premiered | January 31, 2025 |
| Place premiered | Laura Pels Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| Original language | English |
| Setting | Ohio, 1970; present day |
Liberation is a 2025 American memory play by Bess Wohl. Developed by the Roundabout Theatre Company, it explores second-wave feminism, memory, and the complexities of social change across generations. The play premiered Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre in February 2025, directed by Whitney White, and is scheduled to transfer to Broadway in October 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theatre.
Liberation premiered Off-Broadway at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre. Previews began on January 31, 2025, with an opening night on February 20. It ran until April 6, having extended a week from its originally closing date of March 30. [1] [2]
The production was directed by Whitney White and featured:
The creative team included David Zinn (scenic design), Qween Jean (costume design), Cha See (lighting), and Palmer Hefferan (sound). [4]
A Broadway production is scheduled at the James Earl Jones Theatre for a 14-week engagement. Previews start October 8, with an opening on October 28, 2025. The original Off-Broadway cast will reprise their roles. [5]
Set in Ohio in 1970, the play opens in a rec-centre basement where Lizzie convenes a consciousness-raising group of women. Fifty years later, Lizzie’s daughter looks back to try to understand her mother's radical past. [6] Structured as a memory play, the narrative shifts fluidly between past and present, with the narrator directly addressing the audience. [7]
The play received widespread acclaim from critics. Sara Holdren of Vulture praised it as “the best play I’ve seen this season”, lauding how it “balances the intensely personal and the broadly civic, the ethical and the theatrical, with extraordinary rigor and grace”. [7]
The Week remarked that the play “takes an old form and shakes it like a freshly laundered sheet in the breeze”, singling out the cast’s performances in a “growing wave of charisma, camaraderie, tenderness, and tension”. [8]
The Wrap declared that “2025 has already delivered its first great new play”, commending Wohl’s deft mixture of sobering, funny, provocative, and “totally engaging” elements, and noting her narrator is “even more direct and efficient … than the Stage Manager in ‘Our Town’”. [9]
Some reviewers offered more reserved praise. Rachel Graham of TheaterMania observed that while the play did create “multidimensional characters and deftly balances a personal story with the history of the women’s movement”, ultimately “the landing doesn’t quite stick”, though “there’s enough to keep the thoughtful Liberation in the air throughout its two-and-a-half hours”. [10]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | Nominated | [11] | |
| Outstanding Director of a Play | Whitney White | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Wig and Hair | Nikiya Mathis | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Ensemble | Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson | Won | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play | Won | [12] | ||
| Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play | Betsy Aidem | Nominated | |||
| Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Play | Nominated | [13] | ||
| Outstanding Director | Whitney White | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play | Susannah Flood | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play | Betsy Aidem | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Costume Design | Qween Jean | Nominated | |||