Feminist Storytelling Against the Backdrop of Authoritarianism

The ideas to which we are exposed in the theater are a measurement of our collective pulse

The Trump administration’s assault on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts continued through the week with another tranche of staff fired last Friday—employees in its government relations, marketing, and social media departments. A prevailing question remains: what does the future of national public theater hold? Will the show(s) go on? It may be too soon to tell, though producers from shows as foundational as Hamilton have already announced the cancellation of their planned tour stops at the Kennedy Center.

News of the latest job cuts overlapped with the one-year anniversary of opening night of the Broadway show SUFFS. (Admittedly, it was not a date I had committed to memory, but learned through a bittersweet series of Instagram posts.) This time last year, it was a darling of the theater and progressive political world. Regaling in song the backstory of the Nineteenth Amendment, it scooped up awards while ushering in a new generation of suffragette fan girls. Alas, all the SUFFS hoopla, while ever so earnest (perhaps overly so?), was short-lived: just weeks after Election Day, the fate of its Broadway run was sealed, with its final performance landing on January 5, 2025.

Its anniversary got me thinking about the vital role of feminist storytelling against the backdrop of authoritarianism. We know that in a robust democracy, live performance is not merely “nice to have” or an outlet for escape. The ideas to which we are exposed in the theater mean exponentially more: they are a measurement of our collective pulse, a gauge of our collective potential, and a glimpse into how much farther forward we might propel (or fall).

With all that in mind, I headed off to Broadway to check out the shows I suspected might smack of such sensibility. The Great White Way did not disappoint! With Tony nominations just one week away, here are recommendations for the hottest shows for which pro-democracy viewers can root.

John Proctor Is The Villain is set in rural Georgia in 2018, where #MeToo meets the high school English curriculum (in a classroom that doubles as a feminist club) vis-à-vis The Crucible. Two hours of whip-smart, searing dialogue with a killer soundtrack becomes a fully immersive experience. This play drives home the confusion and despair—alongside corresponding connection and camaraderie—that is part of being a young woman in Trump‘s America. The brilliantly cast Sadie Sink, one of the breakout stars of the Netflix series Stranger Things, is joined by a wildly hip and talented cast. The whole thing rocks.

As does Real Women Have Curves, the new musical based on the play by Josefina López that inspired the HBO film. Now in its third iteration, the show is bursting with dynamic spirit. Its focus on the lives and dreams of immigrant women is reflected in its cast, which is not only predominantly Latina but also features the first Mexican immigrant to originate a leading role on Broadway before obtaining U.S. citizenship, Florencia Cuenca. The script, score, and choreography—complete with overt, unabashed body positivity—fuel joy by design. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Cuenca reflected:

“I feel so proud to be able to tell this story right now in this body I have. I get to tell our story of how immigrants are hardworking people. We’re so loving and so joyful and even in the worst moments we keep working…and also find a way to have fun. I love that about our culture. No matter how f— up our world is, we find a way to have fun and care for each other. To portray that on a big stage is a political act.”

Rounding out my tour was Old Friends, a classic Stephen Sondheim review starring Broadway veterans Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. While two hours of homage to Sondheim’s complex scores might not strike many as radical feminist fare, think again, says Sarah Wolf—the leadership giving manager at Manhattan Theatre Club. (Who is also my daughter and my date to the show.) “Yes, Sondheim had written many fantastic, strong female leads,” she said. “But watching Peters and Salonga seamlessly shapeshift into so many characters and carry the songs written for men enabled stories to fill up the whole stage—especially when traditionally they had to share half the applause with a male lead and when that masculine name appeared in the title of the show itself, from Sweeney Todd to Sunday in the Park with George.”

Valerie Terranova Photography

Adding one for good measure: In a recent Contrarian article, I featured as a companion to the Democracy Movement roundup my appreciation for playwright Bess Wohl, whose production Liberation just completed its Broadway run. I wrote then,

“The show toggles between the aspirations of a consciousness-raising group in 1970 and the reality of one of the members’ daughters in 2025. Refusal to accept the status quo—and doing so by creating community and embodying optimism—is a most powerful form of resistance. Will it get the job done? Will we even know if we have gotten the job done? In Trump’s America, quite frankly, it is too hard and too soon to tell. But fight ahead we must— and we will.”

Any great shows you’ve seen that I missed? What is playing in your community? Drop a line in the comments so readers in every state can get out and support the arts—doing so is a crucial means of overcoming authoritarianism, and giving ourselves a much-needed break from consuming nothing but news.