Liberation is a witty, genuine snapshot of second-wave feminism |
In the second act of Liberation the main cast quietly, and without fuss, starts to undress. By the time the lights go up, all six women are naked. In this masterful play by Bess Wohl, the moment does not feel shocking or gratuitous but somehow comforting.
In 1970s Ohio, a group of women meet weekly to fight for equality through “consciousness-raising.” Mostly that consists of free-ranging conversation, of which the women have a lot and which is always smart, funny, vulnerable and eye-opening. But after reading an article about body positivity in Ms. magazine, they meet in the nude.
As one group member, Dora, ostensibly the most beautiful, breaks down about the pressures she feels and the ways in which she limits and denies her desires (she has never had an orgasm), the other women, still naked, kneel around her. Under Whitney White’s gorgeous direction, the scene is serene – like an oil painting in the flesh.
That portrait of women gathered intimately is at odds with where it takes place: in a bare-bones recreation center. Liberation premiered earlier this year in a downtown New York basement theater. That setting helped create the atmosphere of a group relegated........