ROE - Great Daily Californian Review
Our recent staged reading of ROE received a good review in the Daily Californian in a theatre review by Vivian Stacy. See: Actors Ensemble of Berkeley's 'Roe' offers relevant, refreshing take on abortion rights.
The review opens noting that there is little common knowledge of the stories of the women who led the fight for safe and legal abortions and credited Actors Ensemble for bringing such a story to the community. Read more for a few quotes from the review.
The Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, or AEB, strove to change that last week in its staged reading of Lisa Loomer’s “Roe.” The play centers around the lives of lawyer Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey beyond the scope of the immediate court case, painting an evocative picture of Roe v. Wade’s reverberations across both their personal lives and U.S. history.
While the show may not have employed all the flashy elements of a fully produced play, such as costume, setx and lighting design, the barebones staged reading format allowed for more opportunity to digest the text as is. As director Susannah Wood expressed in the director’s note, “it’s fun for the audience of listening viewers, because they must use much more imagination to fill in missing pieces that lighting, sound design, sets, costumes, and action would have expressed.”
Indeed, the actors’ infectious energy and creativity colored the spaces the format left behind. After only two rehearsals and mere weeks of planning, the AEB’s limited preparation made the show’s poignancy all the more impressive.
From The Daily Californian: Actors Ensemble of Berkeley's 'Roe' offers relevant, refreshing take on abortion rights.