Lisa Loomer's 'Roe' Timely Re-examines the Abortion Debate in the Theater

The staging of "Roe," Lisa Loomer play that extensively examines all aspects of the abortion debate, is timely given the recent inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. That the production is being held at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. seems to drive the matter closer to home. As the play opens, millions of women have marched to the Capital to protest against Trump's anti-abortion stand and his apparent misogynist views.

As featured by The Atlantic, Loomer's play takes us back to the 1970s when a conflicted lady, Norma McCorvey, meets with feisty lesbian lawyer Sarah Weddington. McCorvey is agonizing over the choices that she has to make about her pregnancy. Weddington is more than willing to argue her case in the Supreme Court. Given the sensitive nature of the situation, and the contentious debate flying around it, McCorvey was to be referred to as the fictional Jane Roe. As most everyone knows by now, the legal case fought by these two ladies established the famous Roe vs. Wade decision, which in a nutshell, grants a woman the right to her own body.

On the surface, the play looks unabashedly feminist with the two protagonists taking over the cudgel for women's rights. But Loomer herself is the first to say that she wrote the play as an exploration of the human dimension of the abortion debate. Regardless of the position that the viewer takes in real-life, the playwright wanted to give a very human voice to the women who were anguishing over their dilemma as Corvey was. 

"Roe" does tackle the pros and the cons, the positions for and against. All angles are examined and yet this is not a cerebral play. The two women break the fourth wall to directly address the audience and make a connection with them. Emotions, passions, fears, and dreams make them very human. Polarities that would have simply halved the issue into "black" and "white" open a lot of area for the gray.

The DCIST review gives top marks to Loomer for veering away from stereotypes but instead humanizing the characters instead. Sarah Bruner's Norma and Sarah Jane Agnew's Weddington carry the play on both their strong shoulders. The reliance on the narrative can give the proceedings a "sing-song"-style narrative, but the dialogue is solid and empathic. Overall, "Roe" makes the viewer realize that, after more than 40 years, the debate is far from quieting down.

TagsLisa Loomer, Roe, Play on abortion