Liberation

by Bess Wohl

It’s 1970. Somewhere in Ohio, six women meet on a basement basketball court to form a consciousness-raising group, determined to shake up their lives and change the world. Fifty years later, one of their daughters tries to understand where things fell apart.

A provocative, wildly theatrical play that poses vital questions about friendship, legacy and the true meaning of liberation, investigating what we inherit, what we forget, and what we’re still fighting to understand. (Concord Theatricals)

Genres: Plays

Paperback

Published January 1, 2026

Reviews

[Nina Gold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting, because it was 1.) short and 2.) phenomenal. I love Bess Wohl’s writing. Camp Siegfried is one of my dream plays to perform, and now this one. Trying to understand your mother through your own memories? Wondering if your mother would have been happier if she hadn’t had you? It’s like she wrote it for me and my mom.

There’s an interesting phenomenon happening in a number of feminist plays at the moment, where they name the fact that they are sitting and doing a play about feminism while the people in power steamroll our rights. It’s the endless problem of talking about something vs. doing something, which they also discuss in this play. But at the same time, theater has always been an outlet for radicalism, a form of protest, an avenue of social change. I think the problem is less about the play itself- because people will always create art to try to understand themselves, to try to reflect the world and influence their audience- and more what a state of passivity we’ve entered. Wohl addresses that in the play as well, the lost sense of community and solidarity within our generation.

Also, I find that the plays I’m reading that call out their own flaws within the text are written by women. Playwrights socialized as men don’t do that as much. A half-baked idea I’m pondering: do women write plays with self-reflection and self-critique because they are conditioned to be more aware of their own flaws than men? Or is this a reckoning by white, female playwrights with white feminism (because admittedly, the plays I’ve read and seen recently that do this are all by white women)? Probably, it’s a mixture of both. I don’t think that this was a drawback in this play at ALL; it’s more accurate to name the ways that racism and sexism overlap, intersect, and divide us. I just also see women (myself included) holding themselves back because they are trying to get things right, whereas men have been taught that getting things done is most important; my friend and I were recently discussing that men are not taught to fear consequences of getting things wrong in the same way as women. So maybe there’s that aspect as well.

I wonder if a play is stripped of its political and social power when the only way for it to be seen is to function within the framework of a huge, money-making industry like Broadway. This play is so powerful, but capitalism is inherently at odds with art. We need to dismantle this institution. Guerrilla-style Liberation by Bess Wohl.

Overall- I really, really loved it. Excited to work on it soon.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this just won the Tony for Best New Play last night (as well as the Pulitzer a month ago) and was the final one of the four nominees for me to read - and hate to say it but was probably my least favorite!! It's still a fine play and I think one really has to see it to appreciate it - but I just couldn't relate much to the topic of '70's Women's Liberation.

One thing I did like is that once you get to know the characters, it is fairly easy to keep them all straight - but mainly as they fall in to fairly stereotypical categories: the sexy secretary, the Italian immigrant, the older trad house-frau, the mannish lesbian, the black caregiver, the narrator.

The narrator's mother is played in turn by several of the OTHER characters, as well as the narrator herself, which was initially a mite confusing, but as I said, probably works well in production. As most of the reviews noted, the play has some pacing issues and doesn't quite stick the landing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/th...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://ew.com/liberation-review-broa...
https://variety.com/2025/legit/review...
https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/r...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA75H...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jTPN...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHdiy...

[Brooke Cousins · Rating 5 out of 5]

like a very strong 4.5 that's getting rounded up. i love women: the sequel. i mean, you can't watch that clip of her finally having the conversation with her mother and not feel something. need to be in this asap

[Addy Canzano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play changed who I am fundamentally as a person. I was able to catch it five times during its Broadway run and finally she’s been published and I can read it constantly. Thank you Bess wohl

[Avery Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s 12:09am, i finished lib, im sobbing, and i want a lib tattoo i already know what i want.

[Peyton Woolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best play I’ve ever read and perhaps my favorite work of art I’ve experienced thus far in my life?

[Cate Ginsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do we understand our mothers

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, but sadly necessary play about women; the more things change the more they stay the same! A memory play, told in a wonderfully 4th wall breaking way, told lovingly, told angrily, told tenderly, told boldy, told pleadingly and most important TOLD! A fantastic piece!

[Codey Odachowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second I heard of this play, I was intrigued. Not only by the premise, but the fact that the moment this play touched down in New York, people were talking about it.

Sure enough, it went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and then the Tony Award for Best Play…so naturally I had to read it.

This play follows a group of women from all different backgrounds in the 70’s who decide to get together in a stinky basement gymnasium to discuss all things Women’s Liberation. Ranging in topics from radical protests to how to get their bum husbands to do the dishes every now and then, this play covers it all, from all viewpoints.

The thing I love about this play, and what Bess Wohl did, is she introduced topics, but didn’t just give her opinion on them. Each topic was throughly discussed and debated in a way that allows the reader to truly hear all sides of something. Because at the end of the day, common decency and understanding is the most beneficial form of protest.

I fully recommend this play!

[Amandanoel · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up... I'm sure based on clips I've seen that seeing it staged would be 5 stars vs the reading of it...
This play made me laugh and cry and wonder in what contexts I'd feel comfortable being in it/directing it... it was so moving in the ways it refuses to give simple answers or resolution. It is unflinching in showing how far and not so far we've come, how are we have to keep fighting and how frustrating that feels. Some of the speeches are SO moving. I'd love to see a production/look forward to more regional theaters getting the chance to produce it.

[Mimi Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

all i knew about this was the nudity and maybe that’s part of the issue at hand. i also laughed out loud at the parts (hi sorry i won’t spoil it) in which the play-within-a-play situation gets complicated for the narrator. and also i cried. but hey what’s new

this is so phenomenal and i need to see it or i’ll die

[mengwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

cast me. i wanna play celeste but im too young rn.

[Ez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried seeing this at Roundabout and I cried again reading it.

[Erika Renkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolute favorite play to date


also fascinating to see the progression of edits from off-broadway to Broadway to publication

[Jacob Fife · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic script. Poignant and funny and thought provoking. I hope I get to see a production of it someday.

[Martin Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved everything about this - the great characters, the metatextuality and character-hopping, and the beautiful and perfect ending.

[Shayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

saw a clip of this on tik tok and had to snag the full version to read. gorgeous and moving.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

No wonder it won the Pulitzer Prize. So cool. Such an interesting use of shifting characters. LOVED IT!!

[Gabby Macogay · Rating 5 out of 5]

just cried my eyes out oh so much!!! thank you tony award winner bess wohl. i can’t believe i didn’t see this in a theatre WHYYYY

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

women!!!!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters are both real and realistic. Incredibly thought-provoking and thoughtful.

[Jordan Muschler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A play that does not hide behind political thought but ties its political ideas into its emotional ones seamlessly. Worthy of the accolades, would love to see a production.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this on the day it won the Tony for Best Play feels extra special. Adding this to the “media that changed my life” list.