Joey Magidson
In the past two weeks, I’ve seen a pair of Broadway shows. One was Chess, the high profile new take on the cult musical. I found it to be a mixed bag, though certainly enjoyable (One Night in Bangkok is always going to be a bop of a tune). The other was Liberation, a memory play set in 1970’s Ohio about second-wave feminism. Now, I went in completely blind, taking a plus one who was interested. Lo and behold, it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Because I’m me, I started thinking about the film version, which would be really fascinating to see, should it ever get adapted.
Liberation is a deeply funny, incredibly moving (I cried), and wholly successful work. Written by Bess Wohl, it leans into the messiness of the issues being discussed, never breaching, sometimes breaking the fourth wall with the audience, and always being incredibly entertaining. From a few hilarious lines to a show stopping nude sequence, all the way to a conclusion that had me openly sobbing, there are risks being taken, with all of them working. The material is, frankly, genius, hence my curiosity about an adaptation.
This is the basic synopsis from the show’s website:
1970s, Ohio. Lizzie gathers a group of women to talk about changing their lives, and the world. What follows is a necessary, messy, and bitingly funny exploration of what it means to be free, and to be a woman. In LIBERATION, Lizzie’s daughter steps into her mother’s memory—into the unfinished revolution she once helped ignite—and searches the past to find the answer for herself.
Tony Award® nominees Bess Wohl (Grand Horizons) and Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding) present a refreshingly irreverent and intensely relevant powerhouse of a play about what we inherit, what we forget, and what we’re still fighting to understand.
The show has a wonderful cast, led by Susannah Flood as Lizzie/her daughter. The rest of the cast, including Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Charlie Thurston, and Adina Verson, are splendid as well. They really make these characters sing, to the point where you’re more than content to just listen to them argue, talk, and try to make sense of the world. Hollywood would certainly think of bigger names in an adaptation, but this cast deserves to stick together.
In my mind, an adaptation could resemble a lighter Women Talking, for example. I don’t want to suggest Sarah Polley to helm, but she certainly would be a terrific choice. The experimental nature of some of the show would lend itself to a filmmaker playing around with things in their own way, too. Given the strength of the writing and vividness with which the characters are depicted, the bones for something special are already there.
As much as anything, this is just me excited to talk about Liberation, hoping more people see it, and wondering what the movie version would be like. Done well, it could be a mix of comedy and drama that hits audiences both in the heart and the head. It’s exactly the type of stage to screen adaptation that could win awards. Time will tell if anyone even looks at the production as something to adapt, but if it ever happens, count me in…
Stay tuned to see if Liberation ever makes the leap to the silver screen!
Comments
Loading…