The play, about a feminist group meeting in Ohio in the 1970s, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama last month.

The play follows a narrator describing her mother’s creation of the group and inserting herself into the imagined group setting, amid infighting, pushes for progress and a radical reimagining of womanhood, as well as a reckoning of where that stands now.

Inspired by Mother

The plot was partly inspired by her mother, Lisa Cronin Wohl, who worked for Gloria Steinem’s Ms. Magazine.

“I really need first to thank my mom, who taught me to use my imagination. I need to thank my daughters, who love to remind me that I couldn’t have done it without them and their right,” Wohl said onstage.

With the win, Wohl is also the first woman to win Tony Award for best play since 2009, when French Yasmina Reza won the award for God of Carnage.

The last time an American woman won the award was in 1989, when Wendy Wasserstein earned the award for The Heidi Chronicles.

“Tonight, I want to honor her, I want to honor women everywhere who have the courage to use their voice, and all the girls out there speaking your truth and make the world be wise enough to listen,” Wohl said.

Liberation, directed by Whitney White, ran on Broadway from October through February and was well-reviewed, but did not pull in big audiences. It has since won the Pulitzer and announced a 2027 London run.

The play beat out strong contenders in the category.

Giant, a play about Roald Dahl and antisemitism, which won the 2025 Olivier for best play in its London run and, was seen as the stiffest competition.

Little Bear Ridge Road, about an estranged aunt and her nephew reconnecting, produced by Scott Rudin and Barry Diller.

John Lithgow stars as Dahl. Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock starred in Little Bear Ridge Road, which ran on Broadway last fall.