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Liberation
Broadway Promotional Poster
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 transferred to Broadway in October 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The production won the 2026 Tony Award for Best Play. On May 4, 2026, it was announced that Bess Wohl won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Liberation.[1][2]

Premise

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.[3] Structured as a memory play, the narrative shifts fluidly between past and present, with the narrator directly addressing the audience.[4]

Productions

Off-Broadway (2025)

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 planned closing date of March 30.[5][6] The production was directed by Whitney White. The creative team included David Zinn (scenic design), Qween Jean (costume design), Cha See (lighting), and Palmer Hefferan (sound).[7]

Broadway (2025)

In August 2025, it was announced that a Broadway production had been scheduled at the James Earl Jones Theatre for a 14-week engagement.[8][9] Previews started October 8,[10] with an opening on October 28, 2025. The original off-Broadway cast reprised their roles.[11][12] The engagement was later extended by three weeks to February 1, 2026.[13]

London (2027)

In May 2026, a 2027 London production was announced. Daryl Roth, Eva Price, Rachel Sussman, Eleanor Lloyd Productions, and Eilene Davidson Productions are involved in the transfer.[14]

Cast and characters

Character Off-Broadway[15] Broadway
2025
Lizzie Susannah Flood
Margie Betsy Aidem
Dora Audrey Corsa
Joanne Kayla Davion
Celeste Kristolyn Lloyd
Isidora Irene Sofia Lucio
Bill Charlie Thurston
Susan Adina Verson

Reception

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".[4]

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".[16]

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'".[17]

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".[18]

Awards and nominations

Off-Broadway production

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2025 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Play Nominated [19]
Outstanding Director of a Play Whitney White Nominated
Outstanding Wig and Hair Nikiya Mathis Nominated
Outstanding Ensemble The cast of Liberation[a] Won
Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Won [20]
Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play Betsy Aidem Nominated
Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Play Nominated [21]
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
New York Drama Critics Circle Best Ensemble The cast of Liberation[b] Won [22]
Dorian Award Outstanding Off-Broadway Production Nominated [23][24]
Outstanding Lead Performance in an Off-Broadway Production Susannah Flood Nominated
Outstanding Featured Performance in an Off-Broadway Production Betsy Aidem Nominated

Broadway production

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2026 Drama League Awards Outstanding Production of a Play Won [25][26]
Distinguished Performance Susannah Flood Nominated
Pulitzer Prize for Drama Bess Wohl Won [27][28]
Tony Awards Best Play Bess Wohl Won [29]
Best Leading Actress in a Play Susannah Flood Nominated
Best Featured Actress in a Play Betsy Aidem Nominated
Best Direction of a Play Whitney White Nominated
Best Costume Design of a Play Qween Jean Nominated

Notes

  1. ^ Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson
  2. ^ Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson

References

  1. ^ "Drama | The Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  2. ^ Hall, Margaret (May 4, 2026). "Liberation Wins the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama". Playbill. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  3. ^ "Liberation – The New Yorker". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. February 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b Holdren, Sara (21 February 2025). "Liberation Review". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  5. ^ Evans, Greg (20 February 2025). "World Premiere of Bess Wohl's Liberation Opens Off-Broadway". Playbill. Playbill, Inc. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  6. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "LIBERATION Now Extended Through Early April at Roundabout Theatre Company". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  7. ^ "Bess Wohl's Liberation Extends Off-Broadway". Playbill. Playbill, Inc. 7 March 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  8. ^ McPhee, Ryan (4 August 2025). "Bess Wohl's Liberation Keeps Original Off-Broadway Cast for Broadway Run". Broadway News. Broadway Briefing. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  9. ^ Evans, Greg (July 31, 2025). "Bess Wohl's Acclaimed Play 'Liberation' To Debut On Broadway This Fall". Deadline. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  10. ^ Hall, Margaret (October 8, 2025). "Bess Wohl's Liberation Begins Broadway Previews October 8". Playbill. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  11. ^ "Photos: Liberation Opening Night on Broadway". Playbill. October 29, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  12. ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (October 29, 2025). "'Liberation' Review: A Tony-Worthy Ensemble Plotting Revolution". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  13. ^ Hall, Margaret (November 17, 2025). "Liberation Extends On Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  14. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (19 May 2026). "Bess Wohl's Liberation Will Cross the Pond to London". Playbill. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  15. ^ "Liberation – BroadwayWorld". BroadwayWorld. Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Theater Review: Liberation". The Week. 2025-03-05. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  17. ^ Hofler, Robert (2025-02-21). "'Liberation' Off Broadway Review: Bess Wohl's New Play Is as Good as New York Theater Gets". TheWrap. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  18. ^ "Review: Bess Wohl Interrogates the Women's Movement in Liberation Off-Broadway - TheaterMania.com". 2025-02-21. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  19. ^ Olivia Clement (June 1, 2025). "Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List". Playbill.
  20. ^ "Maybe Happy Ending Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Archived from the original on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  21. ^ Logan Culwell-Block (May 4, 2025). "Our Class Leads 2025 Lucille Lortel Award Wins". Playbill. Archived from the original on August 26, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  22. ^ Gans, Andrew (May 20, 2022). "2022 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards Presented May 20". Playbill. Retrieved 2026-04-25.
  23. ^ Mandell, Jonathan (May 14, 2025). "2025 Dorian Theater Award Nominations". New York Theater. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  24. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe (June 3, 2025). "JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN and CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL Lead 2025 Dorian Theater Awards". Broadway News. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  25. ^ Gans, Andrew (April 20, 2026). "2026 Drama League Awards Nominations Are Out; Read the Full List". Playbill. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
  26. ^ Hipes, Patrick (April 20, 2026). "Daniel Radcliffe, Luke Evans Among Drama League Award Nominees". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
  27. ^ Hall, Margaret (May 4, 2026). "Liberation Wins the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama". Playbill. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  28. ^ Times, The New York (May 4, 2026). "Pulitzer Prizes: 2026 Winners List" – via NYTimes.com.
  29. ^ "See who's nominated for the 2026 Tony Awards". NPR. Retrieved May 5, 2026.