“Roe” is a fascinating play.  UUSS Theater One’s production of it is amazing.  It concludes this Friday and Saturday at 8:00 and Sunday at 2:00.  It lasts 2 hours 45 minutes, including an intermission (with refreshments on the covered patio.)

With the Supreme Court case of Roe versus Wade as the center point, “Roe” is about the history of conflict over a woman’s right to an abortion in this country. Yet is also dramatizes the conflicted memories and experiences of that history.

Norma McCorvey, the young woman named as “Jane Roe” in the lawsuit, is played by Elly Award winner Andrea Kersten, who has been in TV and film projects, as well as on stage here, in “Steel Magnolias” and “Alice in Wonderland.”  Sarah Weddington, a new young attorney who argued the case first in Texas and later in Washington, D.C., is played by Rebekah Nichols, who has performed on stage in “Shrek: The Musical,” “The Velveteen Rabbit,” and (at Theater One) Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.”  Both are dynamite actors who embody strong but hurting women.  The rest of the large cast is very strong; each one playing more than one character.  The costume changes (in character, on stage) are fun!

We see many personal sides of the court case, including the violence and poverty experienced by Norma, as well as the devotion of her female partner.  After the successful court ruling, showing us the effect of the case on Norma, especially after she makes it public that she was “Jane Roe.”  We see American feminist leaders of the early 1970s, celebrity journalists, evangelical Christian anti-abortion activists.  I found it easy to follow, thanks in part to characters introducing themselves to the audience.

“Roe” was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which produced the play in Ashland in 2016.  Playwright Lisa Loomer updated and revised the play during the Trump administration.  With empathy, it shows Norma McCorvey’s conversion to evangelical Christianity, renouncing of her pro-choice activism and leaving her longtime partner.  Yet our Theater One Director Lisa Erwin’s note in the program reveals that McCorvey reversed herself once more before her death, asserting that she had been emotionally manipulated and swayed by money to become an anti-abortion activist.

Set in 1969-73 (and in more recent years), the play was a review of history which I needed to see and which I hope many will show up to see.  I  re-learned the agonizing fate of many women and girls who had to seek an illegal abortion (or attempt one on themselves) before it became safe and legal.

While this is a great theater experience for all ages, I would recommend this play especially to any parent of a teenager or any younger adult. I’m so grateful to Lisa and Mike, their cast and crew, and the other volunteers for producing this play, and proud that it is showing at UUSS.

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