Review: LIBERATION at Berkeley Repertory Theatre

It’s a season for women’s stories in the Bay Area. We have the comic fairy tale feminist Once Upon a One More Time at Ray of Light and Harold Pinters’ deceit-filled Betrayal at Marin Theatre. Now we get the heavy hitter in Bess Wohl’s Tony and Pulitzer winning Liberation which opened at Berkeley Rep on October 28th. Combining humor with serious issues of generational legacy, identity and community building, this beautiful West Coast premiere is tailor made for the Bay Area’s progressive mindset.

In this memory play, present day Lizzie (Katie Lowes) narrates the story of her mother’s involvement in a CR (Consciousness Raising) group back in 1970. Lowes then jumps into the past playing her mother as she struggles to create a feminist community in Ohio. The time-bending structure works well with Lizzie interviewing some of the living members fifty years later. Act One introduces the group’s characters and illustrates the diversity of perspectives each provides. While these women are stereotypes of female roles, Wohl keeps them from falling into caricature by exploring their backstory and struggles.

There’s an outspoken Sicilian firebrand (Irene Sofia Lucio), the beleaguered housewife (Mary Gordon Murray), the homeless tough girl (Evelyn Spahr), the Black NYC radical (Felicia Curry), the ditsy secretary (Britt Faulkner), and the organizer Lizzie (Lowes). Like any group of strangers, there’s power dynamics at play, strong personality clashes, and eventual bonding. Plenty of feminist ideas are bantered about; social and economic concepts still being fought today.

There’s plenty of humor woven into the politics to balance the drama. The angry housewife who wants to stab her husband and the battle over the wording of the ‘womanifesto’ and the idea of an artificial womb lighten the atmosphere. The feminist ideal is community and conscience with self-determination, yet when Lizzie decides to get engaged the group devolves into a catfight. Is marriage compatible with feminism? One of the women bemoan the fact that ‘wife’ sounds like an insult. The cast of Liberation features (in alphabetical order) Felicia Curry (Celeste), Britt Faulkner (Dora), Katie Lowes (Lizzie), Irene Sofia Lucio (Isidora), Gunnar Manchester (Bill), Mary Gordon Murray (Margie), Veronica Otim (Joanna), and Evelyn Spahr (Susan) who are all wonderful, with original direction by Whitney White.

Act Two opens with a bold staging, one that requested that all cell phones be locked up to protect the privacy of the actors. Completely nude, the women are taking a body image quiz from a women’s magazine. Asked what they love and hate about their bodies, we get a glimpse into the deepest insecurities that each woman holds; a c-section scar or flared nostrils. It’s a bold scene that bonds the women even deeper while being totally non-gratuitous.

The heart of Liberation is Lizzie’s attempts to know her mother’s intentions. Why did she seemingly abandon feminism for marriage and children? Was Lizzie a mistake? Present-day Lizzie gets to speak with a stand-in Mother (the actor playing Margie, the now wise housewife) in a tender finale. Does she answer Lizzie’s questions? Maybe not, but then are those the right questions. It’s easy to see why Liberation is so lauded and this straight from Broadway production proves its deservedness.

Liberation continues through November 29th. Tickets available at http://www.berkeleyrep.org/ or by calling 510-647-2949.

Photo credits: Kevin Berne

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