"To succeed in life you need three things-
a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone."
-Reba McEntire
Liberation
WRITTEN BY
Bess Wohl
DIRECTED BY
Donna Bradby
WINNER - 2026 Tony Award for Best Play
WINNER - 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Dates
November 6-22, 2026
Venue
Arts Factory
run time
Approximately 2 hours, and one 15-minute intermission
content
This production contains mature language, discussions of sexism, racism, sexuality, reproductive rights, and family relationships, as well as non-sexual nudity. Recommended for ages 18+
About the Show
It’s 1970. Somewhere in Ohio, six women meet on a basketball court to form a consciousness-raising women's liberation 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.
What People Are Saying
Praise from previous productions
The New York Times
“An unadulterated pleasure. Powerfully moving and funny. When these women talk, we want to hear every word... Looks at community and individuality, determination and self-determination, in an elegiac and impassioned manner.”
The Washington Post
“A superb enthralling emotional knockout... an extraordinary must-see… Mothers, take your friends and daughters.”
The Wrap
“The year’s best play… an awesome night in the theater… the audience is immediately hooked… Wohl is so skillful in telling this free-floating story… [she] fills Liberation with all sorts of wonderful side trips… but through it all, the female characters are never presented as a bunch of victims.”
Get Tickets
Advance Purchase Online: $30 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Night of Show at the Door: $35 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Students and Educators: $20 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Volunteers: We welcome volunteers to help with ushering and concessions at each performance. Volunteers get to see the show for free. Please visit our Volunteer Registration page to sign up.
Discounted pricing available for groups of 10 or more, contact us at info@threebonetheatre.com to learn more
Individual Tickets and flex passes available now!
Meet the Artists
Bess Wohl
Playwright
Bess Wohl is a writer, director and acclaimed playwright. Bess earned a GLAAD Media Award nomination and finalist spot for this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her most recent play, Liberation. The new play was praised by New York Magazine’s Sara Holdren as “The Best Play I’ve Seen This Season” during its premiere at the Roundabout Theatre off-Broadway, and its critically acclaimed run on Broadway was featured on “Best of The Year” lists from The New York Times, Vulture, The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, People and more.
Her other plays include Barcelona (West End), Grand Horizons (Broadway, Tony Nomination), Camp Siegfried, Small Mouth Sounds, Make Believe, Continuity, American Hero, Touched, In, Cats Talk Back and the original musical Pretty Filthy. Her plays have been recognized with a variety of awards and nominations, including the Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics’ Circle awards.
In film and television, she has developed projects with Amazon, HBO, Paramount, ABC, Disney and others. Bess’ film Baby Ruby premiered at TIFF in 2022. Page Fifty-Four produced, with Noémie Merlant and Kit Harrington starring. She wrote for the Apple series Extrapolations, and is currently developing a TV project starring Connie Britton, with LuckyChap producing.
Wohl is an Associate Artist with The Civilians, an alumna of Ars Nova’s Play Group, and the current Judith Champion fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club. She is a graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Drama.
Supporting Materials
Digital Program
Download the full program to learn more about the artistic team and our community partner.
Discussion Guide
Keep the conversation going with our show-specific discussion guide developed by our Education Manager.