What better way to celebrate Women’s History Month (March) and International Women’s Day (March 8) than a night with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Ginsburg, a cultural icon and a crusader for women’s rights, passed away in 2020 as a legend, thanks in part to a 2018 drama On the Basis of Sex and Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a 2015 book that was turned into a documentary.
All Things Equal: The Life & Trials Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a 2022 play by Rupert Holmes starring Michelle Azar who embodies Ginsberg in this one-woman show.
“At first I didn’t see it,” Azar says about landing the role. “I’m not 80 years old. I knew of her [Ginsberg] from the photos, the woman with big glasses. But when I started reading the material for the audition, I saw it—this energy, a scrappy Jewish woman who had an idea that life could be different or better.”
The premise of the show is RBG sharing the story of her life with her granddaughter’s friend. Known as Kiki to her family and friends, Ginsberg was born in 1933 in Brooklyn. She lost her only sibling when she was 1 year old and her mother in 1950, a day before her high school graduation.
Ginsburg met her supportive husband, Martin Ginsburg, at 17, and in 1956 she started Harvard Law School, as one of nine women in a class of 500. In 1957, when Ginsberg was a young mother, her husband was diagnosed with cancer.
“After learning all that, I decided that I should never complain ever again about anything in my whole life,” Azar observes.
Often after the show, Azar—still as RBG—meets with the youngest members of the audience, who come inspired by Ginsberg’s life.
“They usually sit in the front and when we talk they tell me: ‘I see myself in you,’ and ‘I’m in the band’ or ‘I’m on the debate team’ or ‘I’m frustrated maybe that you stayed on the court as long as you did and I want to understand why.’”
The show is filled with actual quotes from Ginsburg, such as her reflection on the difference between her mother, a humble bookkeeper, and a Supreme Court justice. The answer? “One generation.”
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