Broadway has been Liberated.

The new play, Liberation, reminds us that progress is rarely a straight line.

The 1970 Liberation setting in a basement gym has become the boardroom in the 21st century, along with the ballot box, and the podcast mic, but the same conversations keep looping.

Bess Wohl’s Liberation, directed by Whitney White, is a feminist time capsule and mirror. In essence, a trip from the 1970s women’s movement to today’s uneasy modernity.

Set in a basement gym in Ohio, six women gather to raise consciousness, but mostly end up raising questions still echoing half a century later such as what changed, what didn’t, and who still makes the coffee.

In 1970, liberation was loud and hopeful. Women were tired of being decorative houseplants and wanted their own sunlight. There is idealism, anger, and a lot of folding chairs. They dream of burning down the patriarchy but start with lighting a cigarette.

Fast-forward fifty years, and one of their daughters is asking what that revolution achieved. She’s freer, busier, and still wondering why liberation feels so much like multitasking.

The play’s humor lands in the gap between what women thought they would change the world and what actually did.

The genius of Wohl’s script is its mix of fury and wit, equal parts therapy session, time machine, and group text you can’t mute. It’s not cynical, just clear-eyed. We’ve come a long way from 1970, but the echo in that basement still sounds suspiciously stagnant.

Liberation James Earl Jones Theatre 138 West 48th Street New York City. Running time 2:40. Tickets available through January 11th, 2026.