Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Superb dramas land on Broadway, ready for primetime: Samuel D. Hunter’s LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD and Bess Wohl’s LIBERATION

• By drediman
• October 31, 2025
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This week, a pair of superb new plays landed on the Great White Way. Although both have been meticulously readied for primetime, they stand in striking contrast to one another — one thrives in its intense intimacy, while the other explodes off the stage with operatic force. Read on below for my thoughts on these two well-groomed dramas.

LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD
Booth Theatre
Through February 15

Arriving at Broadway’s Booth Theatre from Chicago’s storied Steppenwolf Theatre Company — which this year celebrates its landmark 50th anniversary — is Samuel D. Hunter’s Little Bear Ridge Road (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Astonishingly, the production marks Hunter’s Broadway debut, after having penned a steady stream of notable dramas for more than a decade. Taking place in Idaho (where nearly all of the playwright’s works take place) during the pandemic, his latest depicts the complicated relationship between an embittered widowed woman and her gay nephew — an aspiring writer who seems adrift in the sea of life — who comes into town to take care of his late father’s estate. As he sorts his life out, he begrudgingly decides to live with his aunt, an emotionally knotted woman who herself is faced with life’s hard realities. Hunter is a master at creating damaged characters for whom he shows deep compassion and empathy towards. Although the two characters at the crux of Little Bear Ridge Road are no different — he’s emotionally and professionally catatonic, she’s all but hid herself away from society — the anxieties that he evokes through them are crystalized and devastatingly clear-eyed. Indeed, Hunter has sculpted his chamber play with a minimalist, artful eye, unfolding it in short, focused scenes — directed with stark theatricality by Joe Mantello — that simmer with profound humanity and bruising vulnerability. The great Laurie Metcalf gives one of the finest performances of her illustrious career, a muscular, fiercely unsentimental piece of acting, laced with line readings that are deliciously her own. Standing his own against her is Micah Stock, whose emotive depiction of a lost soul is at once heartbreaking and frustrating. Rounding out the cast are John Drea and Meighan Gerachis, both of whom make distinct impressions despite the relatively small size of their roles.

LIBERATION
James Earl Joens Theatre
Through January 11

Then there’s the Bess Wohl’s Liberation (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), which has transferred to the beautifully renovated James Earl Jones Theatre (previously the Cort) after an acclaimed Off-Broadway run last season courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company. Inspired by Wohl’s own mother, the memory play centers around a woman who establishes and moderates a weekly meet-up group for women interested in discussing and learning about feminist issues. The play is one of Wohl’s most mature and intelligent works, the culmination of themes and playwriting techniques showcased in plays like Small Mouth Sounds and Grand Horizons. The playwright has an inclination towards writing ensemble-based plays that feature diverse characters, and this play is no different. Liberation features six women — each vividly rendered with care — of notably different backgrounds and temperaments. Over the course of the play, they exhibit their depth and complexity, particularly as it relates to the dilemma of reconciling their increasingly revolutionary ideals with prevailing notions of marriage and motherhood. All of this is accomplished through the lens of a fourth wall breaking meta-theatrical device — think Our Town — which effectively creates a portal to and from an imagined past. Under Whitney White’s patient direction, the cast is uniformly excellent, led by reliable stage veteran Susannah Flood as both the daughter/narrator — the Bess Wohl stand-in — and her mother. Flood navigates the often abrupt shifts between characters with great skill and disarming empathy. The rest of the very accomplished ensemble treat their respective characters with great respect and authenticity, fully embracing their contradictions and frustrations. Together, they make for a convincing sisterhood. The play translates beautifully to a larger theater — where it feels more at home — allowing the play’s sense of urgency and heightened emotions to expand and fully breathe.