Liberation Star Susannah Flood on Her First Tony Award Nomination: 'It’s an Actual Dream Come True'

Bess Wohl’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation is up for five 2026 Tony Awards, including Best Play. The ‘70s memory play, which ended its limited Broadway run in February, starred Susannah Flood as Lizzie. The actress earned her first Tony nomination for her role in the complex work exploring feminist politics and family dynamics.

Flood is a dyed-in-the-wool theater person. She grew up with acting teacher parents, and knew that theater would always be her calling. To earn her first Tony nod for Liberation specifically, “I'm so moved and thrilled,” she tells Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek. Once Liberation finished performances, Flood wasn’t sure that it would still resonate. Clearly, she didn't need to worry. “That's very affirming,” she says. “That thing, that experience I had, I didn't make that up. We shared that. We made that together. The audience made it with us. It's totally overwhelming.”

Liberation was well-received in large part due to its moving subject matter—a tale of women and their daughters, friends and husbands. While Flood acts as the bridge between audience and subject matter, she attributes all the emotion to Wohl’s words. “What people are moved by when they come to see the play is not something I'm doing,” she says. “It's the fact that they are able to see themselves in me, in [2026 Tony nominee] Betsy [Aidem], in the other women on stage. They're crying for themselves, for their mothers, for their own experiences, for their children. You're just trying to give them the space to do that.”

Flood found that giving as much of herself to the audience as possible was key in allowing them to feel safe enough to be vulnerable. “For me, it's about rolling out of bed and bringing as much of my own self onto the stage as possible,” she says. “I'm not saying technique is gone. I'm just saying the audience wants to see me as I truly am. I'm trying to be as brave in being who I truly am as possible, including what I don't know and what I haven't figured out yet.”

Bringing herself to the stage earned the audience’s heart, and Tony voters’. But would young Flood be shocked to have earned that nomination? “She would be thrilled, but also she wouldn't be surprised,” Flood says. “I think anyone who gets to this moment has to have a crucial mass of delusion that then gets reinforced a little bit along the way at various junctures, and that gets you where you're going.” Nevertheless, the fact that it was long-anticipated does not diminish its significance. “It's a dream come true,” Flood emphasizes. “I know people say that, but it really is an actual dream come true.”

Watch the full interview below!