By Renée Santos
Austin, Texas (The Hollywood Times) 04/28/2023 – My flight touched down in the City of Angels from Austin Texas where I had the honor of reviewing the incredibly timely play “Roe” at the Zach Theatre. The female pilot broadcasted a prompt of our arrival, “Welcome to Los Angeles, from the Captain’s deck, I want to thank you for flying with American I hope you choose to fly American again.” How apropos to hear that announcement as I touched down…a professional working career woman’s voice citing the words “American” and “choose” as I came off the flight that brought me from the birthplace of “Roe v. Wade” and this theatrical call to action.
In New York and California, lawmakers have moved to expand abortion care, while Connecticut has passed a law to protect providers from lawsuits in states where abortion is banned. As a resident of California, I am thrown into deep reflection as I sit in the security of living in a state where the political body is enriching care. The energy in Texas was very different. The audience needed this story in a way we Californians can’t imagine and I was humbled to hear the women in the audience share testimonials of feeling the up-close, bold, witnessing of their oppression addressed in this artistic revolution.
The playwright Lisa Loomer wrote this story in 2016, when the option of abortion was secure, safe, and accessible, but still eloquently found the high road by giving both sides of the pro-life/pro-choice opinion a voice that she maintains in the 2023 production. The play today does provide a different ending than its origin though, keeping this archival chronicle a living breathing accord. In 2022 when the decision was overturned she re-wrote the ending and transitioned this story from a historical narrative to an entreaty.
“Roe” is the kind of transformative dramaturgic experience that has only happened a few times in American Theater. It joins the likes of “West Side Story” and “Hamilton” as game changers, innovative productions that will forever redefine what comes after it.
This play was originally slated for production at the Zach in 2020, but was canceled after three rehearsals due to COVID. Now it is being staged at a time when abortion is no longer accessible and all but illegal in Texas, where providing one can potentially be a felony punishable by up to life in prison.
My purpose felt evident as the reporter of this story and that function was clearly recognized by the cast and director as well. I had the pleasure of getting to sit down with the three female leads, Nisi Sturgis, who played “Sarah Weddington”, the lawyer who argued the landmark “Roe v. Wade” case, Amber Quick, who played “Jane Roe” real name “Norma McCorvey,” Sandra Valls, who played, “Connie Gonzalez” the long-time romantic partner of Norma McCorvey, and director, Jenny Lavery. What an opportunity to have a conversation with the women who were an integral part of bringing this production to life.
Jenny Lavery opened the dialogue by commenting, “It’s really important for folks to know the history of how we got to where we are, so we can envision where we might go next. Getting to see an icon like Sarah Weddington standing alongside Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan, and Molly Ivins, these Texas titans, I hope will inspire audiences right here, to say you can make a difference, you can use your voice and hopefully, that rally cry is really heard.”
Jenny Lavery directed this play brilliantly as a generous way of being of service to humanity by honoring the complexities and subtleties of the story and we all felt that very rallying cry in her production. Jenny concluded, “ It is personal, it’s unique in how each audience member will perceive this story, and I hope to inspire a choice of empathy and affect hearts and minds to become willing to have this conversation.”
Amber Quick buttoned the exchange perfectly, “The rouse to mobilize is to reclaim your agency to yourself.”
This play is an educational opportunity and ROE blends information in such a compelling and palatable way. Nisi Sturgis had her own experience around that very idea embodying the incomparable Sarah Weddington. “Theater is my favorite way to learn, it is intimate, there is a depth to it, and you are revealed to yourself as you are doing it. I was humbled to play this role. I felt like I was honoring my big Momma and my Aunt Bobbi who was a tax collector in Arkansas and part of the Democratic Women’s Association. There was a type of woman conditioned at that time to present in a certain way, coming from years of a women’s purpose to please, but having an understanding that there was more to life, and learning to balance that, so I felt that sea saw of, I know what is expected of me, but I am here and I am strong and I can carry the weight to push past that and share my truth.” There was an acuity and recognition in Sturgis’ portrayal and the theatergoers couldn’t keep their eyes off her.
This cast was incredible and I was like a sponge to hear their attestation of connecting to their characters. Amber Quick had a massive responsibility to personify Norma McCorvey and I asked her about that authority. “Norma was a very complicated lady, it was maddening at first trying to get to the truth about Norma, I needed details so that I could chart this life accordingly and then finally realized that to honor Norma is to recognize she was a survivor. I had to acknowledge the complex trauma she lived.”
There were many bumps in the road to finally bringing this to the stage in 2023, and the actors felt that constraint but with grace stayed on that ride and made the adjustment to how they portrayed these complex characters. Quick concluded, “The week the production got shut down, aka, ‘Jane Roe’ started getting coverage with the deathbed confessions of Norma, which further complicated her story, it was hard to try to honor Norma as her story over history has continually gotten manipulated to feed and serve whichever side was trying to tell her tale.” Amber Quick did honor Norma’s story with subtle comedic dexterity, bringing her humanity to the stage, you almost can’t imagine anybody else playing this role.
The playwright commits to getting her story right and affably takes the high road by giving both sides of the pro-life/pro-choice dichotomy that lived inside her anecdote.
The leads in this “Roe v. Wade” biography brought us to our knees but it is important not to overlook one of the key players in this story that history often slights, and actress Sandra Valls does a compelling rendition of the largely unseen character that truly is the glue to Norma’s journey. Valls depicts “Connie Gonzalez”, the long-time companion of Norma McCorvey. They lived together in Dallas for 35 years and after McCorvey converted to Catholicism, McCorvey continued to live with Gonzalez. Later in life, McCorvey stated that she was no longer a lesbian and left her home with Gonzalez in 2006 after Connie suffered a stroke. Sandra Valls commented, “ She loved hard, and she was the only real Christian. To honor her legacy was difficult, there were only two pictures of her online, and you had to dig deep to find her memoir even though she really was the heartbeat of this drama.” The rest of the cast and director interjected with this character’s critical place in the account of Norma McCorvey’s saga. Sturgis added, “ Connie is the only character that doesn’t have an end goal. There is a generosity there, there was no political agenda.”
There were so many gems in this discussion and I could persist to report all the specifics, but all good things must come to an end.
Enjoy our conversation with these amazing women at the Zach Theatre, Austin Texas.
Since the Dobbs decision in 2022, overruling both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Cassy (1992), returning the individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law, this play comes at a time when the national debate is on the forefront of the political conversation and everybody in this production took the assignment to tell this story earnestly displaying the incredible work we still have to do to bridge the divide in America the endures over this controversial issue.
The play wraps this week in Austin, Texas but I don’t believe that should be the end of this run. The call to action now is to grab this original cast and bring this play to Los Angeles and Nationwide making this play a cultural phenomenon.
