Staging a Conversation at Asolo Repertory Theatre

Arts & Culture

Pictured, clockwise from top left: Michelle Aravena, Bri Sudia and Terri Weagant in Asolo Rep's production of �Roe.� Photo by John Revisky.

Asolo Repertory Theatre’s American Character Project may have officially ended more than a year ago, but its stage remains a haven for study of some of the most charged moments of the nation’s past. Opening last night, Roe marks no exception, taking on one of the most controversial Supreme Court cases in American history—Roe v Wade. Going beyond the courtroom, playwright Lisa Loomer breathes life, humanity and more than a bit of humor into the real people behind the famous story, resulting in an honest examination of a difficult topic, and one that seeks more to understand and empathize than convert or criticize. Directed by Lavina Jadhwani, Bri Sudia and Terri Weagant star.

“We need to open up the communication floodgates and talk,” says Weagant, who plays Norma McCorvey, the 22-year-old woman who found herself at the heart of the case, and better known as Jane Roe. And Weagant understands that abortion and women’s reproductive rights can be a contentious topic, but finds that all the more reason for something like Roe—neither pointed nor preachy, somber nor simple—to be produced now. “That’s what I love about Lisa’s work,” says Weagant. “No matter where you stand on the issue, you should be able to see your view honestly reflected.” Seeking more to understand than to convince, starting the conversation becomes the goal, not ending it.

Key to this was Loomer’s decision to follow the story beyond the adversarial setting of the courtroom for a wider view—allowing the story to revolve around the people involved, and treating them as more than historical footnotes or ideological stand-ins. Following them throughout their lives, as perspectives and opinions shift with experience, constructs a more nuanced reality. It also allows for a spot more humor, and, in Weagant’s case, a much more interesting character to play. “Complex and hilarious and wounded,” she says. “They’re the people you see on the street every day.”

Reading McCorvey’s published works and watching documentaries, Weagant delved into her research. Her own politics don’t enter the discussion except to dismiss them as irrelevant—to the performance and the greater exercise of the production. “If I came into this show having an agenda, then I couldn’t do it,” she says. Weagant’s job is to empathize, and she finds more than enough to connect with in McCorvey’s story. “These are real women fighting for what they believe is right,” she says. “That’s what I want to see; that’s what I want to do.”

Currently onstage at Asolo Repertory Theatre, Roe runs through April 15.

Pictured, clockwise from top left: Michelle Aravena, Bri Sudia and Terri Weagant in Asolo Rep's production of �Roe.� Photo by John Revisky.

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