feminist-lawyer-judge's
search for identity...
and justice
featuring an after-show discussion about sexual assault and harassment in school environments between Amy and Maha Ibrahim, ERA’s Managing Attorney for Ending Sexual Violence in Education program.
in honor of International Women’s Day, to celebrate feminist philanthropy and building community power across gender justice movements.
featuring an after-show discussion between Amy and EBC Director of Programs James King (policy strategist, writer, and formerly incarcerated organizer) about restorative justice and alternatives to prison.
featuring an after-show discussion between Amy and Executive Director Janelle White about transformative justice for rape survivors.
featuring an after-show discussion between Amy and director David Ford about the making of Amy’s show and other solo performances.
2120 Allston Way
From the 1960’s till today, Amy befriends, loves and represents a wide slice of America, all the time returning to her first encounter with the justice system following the 1970 rape of a friend.
Amy’s lifelong search for racial and sexual justice is now a one woman show that debuted at fringe festivals in Washington DC and Minnesota in the summer of 2024 and at a Marsh Rising in December 2024. It was then performed at the Phoenicia Playhouse in upstate New York in May 2025.
The at times humorous and at times deadly serious show begins in Berkeley in the early 1970’s during second wave feminism. Amy finds her identity as a lesbian feminist, ultimately goes to law school to fight for women’s rights, then represents coal miners and battered women in Appalachia before returning to California to open a lesbian feminist law practice. She is representing women who had been sexually harassed – pre-Anita Hill – but keeps seeing all sides of things, becomes an administrative judge and founds a law firm to do impartial investigations of harassment and discrimination. She adopts two children – both biracial - and experiences racism up close and personal.
In the meantime, she can’t stop revisiting her first experience with the criminal justice system when she accompanied a friend to a rape trial. Her (white) friend had been raped by a (Black) boyfriend. The friend wanted him to get help, rather than serve a decade in prison. This restorative justice solution was not an option. Amy wonders about her role in the verdict and if real justice is possible in an unjust world.
Trigger warning:
The content of this production includes topics and events that may be triggering to some people including sexual violence/rape, sexual harassment, racism and familial violence.
ABOUT THE SHOW
After the last show an audience member wrote:
Some of deepest healing comes from telling the truth, being vulnerable and willingness to be witnessed. She did all 3!
REVIEWS
“ Hers is a heartbreaking, intimate, and memorable story. I recommend it.”
Aileen-johnson, DC THEATER ARTS
“Oppenheimer has put together a nuanced, thought-provoking show about the grayscale nature of justice.”
About AMY
Amy Oppenheimer, a lesbian feminist lawyer and retired judge, has spent her 45-year legal career advocating for women and people of color and speaking truth to power. She is co-author of Investigating Workplace Harassment: How to be Fair, Thorough and Legal (SHRM 2002).
DAVID FORD
David Ford has been collaborating on new and unusual theatre for three decades and has been associated with The Marsh for most of that time. The San Francisco press has variously called him the solo performer maven, the monologue maestro and the dean of solo performance. More about David
