Liberation Is Heading To Broadway

After an award-winning off-Broadway run, the new play Liberation, from Tony-nominated writer Bess Wohl, is transferring to Broadway this fall for a 14-week engagement at the James Earl Jones Theatre.

Directed by Tony nominee Whitney White, the play centers on a women’s liberation group started in the 1970s by six ladies in a small town in Ohio. More than 50 years later, one of the founders’ daughters attempts to piece together everything that happened in between, searching for an explanation for why her activist mother resorted to more traditional roles and paused her quest for justice.

Wohl, who wrote the Tony-nominated 2020 play Grand Horizons, says telling this story is a gift. “The real meaning of Women’s Liberation is, to me, about treating all people equally and recognizing the dignity and humanity of every person on earth,” she says.

White, who received a Tony nod in 2024 for directing Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, hopes audiences will leave Liberation with a greater respect for previous generations that stood up for people’s rights. “Our mothers and grandmothers had a lot of fight in them and were just as hungry for liberation, [and as] sexy and brave as we are now,” she says. “Perhaps even a little braver.”

Liberation, produced by The Roundabout Theatre Company, opened at the Laura Pels Theatre in February to rave reviews and was a New York Times critic’s pick. The production won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, while the cast received Best Ensemble honors from the Drama Desk Awards and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle.

The off-Broadway cast included Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Susannah Flood, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson. Broadway casting will be announced at a later date.

How To Buy Liberation Tickets

In Broadway’s first-ever presale ticketing partnership with Bustle, tickets will be on sale for early access starting Monday, Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. ET, using the Bustle presale code LBBUSTLE.

Previews are scheduled to begin at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Oct. 8, with opening night set for Oct. 28.