LIBERATION

Review by Celia Ipiotis

So many questions were asked in the 1970’s –questions about anything and everything happening throughout the world. Students, Blacks, and women in particular queried their place in society because the status quo was shaking and the generation gap was muscling-up. In the Roundabout Theatre’s presentaion of Bess Whol’s memory drama, Liberation, six women in Ohio congregate to examine issues and re-consider their lives.

Mostly well educated, the middle class women meet weekly in a gym at 6pm. Although loath to call herself “the leader” Lizzie (Susannah Flood) printed the flyers and secured the space for the “consciousness raising” meetings. 

The weekly conversations swing from negligent husbands, and equitable pay, to overall women’s rights. Afterall, at the time, women were restricted in many ways. It was difficult for a woman to have a bank account, credit card, house — there was no equal pay or professional equity (of course, that has yet to be solved). Liberation is intent on centering women and their journeys to becoming whole individuals. 

For those who remember being enthralled by heated, exciting conversations–generally over drinks or a joint, Wohl retrieves the prevailing sense of confusion overlain with a palpable sense of  urgency and determination. Changes do occur, but the results are mixed. 

Made up of women from all corners of the spectrum, once gathered, the motley group offers introductions. Lizzie, a local newspaper journalist, notes she asked her editor to cover politics and in response he assigns her to weddings and obits. 

The femininely dressed Dora (Audrey Corsa) is “playing the corporate game” in order to work her way up the ladder at a wine and spirits store; Isidora, (Irene Sofia Lucio) an Italian who married for a green card, is nevertheless, a fiery activist; while Susan (Adina Verson) is locating her inner lesbianism.

Celeste (Kristolyn Lloyd) the single Black woman cares for her mother, and is suffocating under the demands. Margie (Betsy Aidem), the eldest woman and the least likely group member, is married with children. But she exhibits a sharp desire for agency. Each woman holds a different type of tension in her body. 

Plunged into lighting designer Cha See’s brightly lit gym where David Zinn’s simple wood chairs are arranged in a semi-circle, the insightful cast members assume their uneasy positions. Expertly directed by  Whitney White, the sparse setting suits the women’s longing for a better future, for a time when their wishes supersede a man’s demands, or more importantly, their dreams are not restricted by gender and are equal to all. 

As if having a boyfriend or husband went against the tenets of feminism, Lizzy neglects to tell the group about her fiance. But when Bill (Charlie Thurston) suddenly appears in the gym to shoot basketball, that male energy is shockingly disruptive –despite his apparent desire to be helpful and totally supportive of Lizzie.

After intermission, the ladies get very Germaine Greer (author of the influential Female Eunuch) in their personal abandonment. Heavy on conversion and light on action, Liberation delivers a viable view of the basic confusion felt by women during a time when newly promised options opened up professional and personal possibilities. 

Before the play ends, Lizze goes back in time to meet with her mother. This poignant embrace of generations points to the endless process towards full personhood.

Adeptly cast, the performers enter the 1970’s clad in period attire: wrap dresses, turtle necks, jackets and plaid skirts, knee length boots and large rimmed glasses. Everything screams 1970’s! thanks to the talents of costume designer Qween Jean and Nikiya Mathis for wigs and hair.

Perhaps the times they are a-changin’ at the Laura Pels Theatre in Beth Wohl’s mindful and witty recap of a time when women holding power twinkles on the horizon.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis