Trigger Warning: discussion of gun violence.
Last weekend I had the distinct- but often rare- pleasure of experiencing a truly amazing piece of theatre. I, along with all of my fellow BFA Acting Candidates, took a trip to the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. to watch Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play Gloria, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2016 (which, if you recall, is the year that Broadway favorite Hamilton stole center stage). Jacobs-Jenkins’ scathing satire and brilliant dialogue stole the show in the incredible tragicomedy, acted expertly by a diverse cast of local professionals. While no video footage has been released from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co’s production of Gloria, I found some footage of a production from Chicago’s prestigious The Goodman theatre and embedded it below so that you can experience the biting banter firsthand.
Gloria is a play about ambition, career, and who gets the right to shape the narrative. Act I takes place as we look in on the lives of several overly-ambitious 20-somethings, all working in neighboring cubicles as editorial assistants at one of New York’s most prestigious magazines. They joke, banter and argue about everyday office drama and career paths, all vying for the opportunity to eventually become an editor and land a book deal before 30. In the climactic event of the play, the office oddball and titular character Gloria goes on a shooting rampage around the office, graphically murdering her coworkers.
Act II deals with the fallout. Who has the right to tell this story? Who owns the trauma of the event? Is it exploitative for an aspiring writer to capitalize on a traumatic event to land a book deal? Is someone’s experience of trauma less authentic because they were behind closed doors? At what point might personal ambition lead us to sacrifice our integrity and humanity? These are all questions that are addressed- and largely left unanswered- in the second half of the story. While we watch the characters grapple with these issues and commit heinous offenses to our sensibilities (capitalizing off of trauma, forgetting the names of their fallen coworkers, etc.), we find ourselves largely unable to judge the characters for their errors. I was surprised by my ability to empathize with all of the characters onstage, even as I was strongly disagreeing with their actions.
If you want more, I strongly encourage you to buy a copy of the play and read it or, better yet, go see the production before it closes. I can’t even begin to scratch the surface of the complexity of the story, the cleverness of the language, or the truth in the writing in this short blog post.
After the play, the theatre hosted a talk back with the actors and producer as well as a visiting writer. An interesting discussion topic that was introduced was the idea of the culture of the office contributing to the violence occurring in the first place. I don’t personally agree with this point of view. I think that Gloria made the decision to turn a gun on her coworkers and herself of her own free will, regardless of how anyone else decided to treat her. I don’t think it’s ever appropriate to blame the victims- who in this case were adults perfectly justified in choosing who to socialize with and who not to- for the violence committed against them. But regardless, the idea is intriguing to consider within the world of the play. Were the people occupying the office treating each other with the kindness and respect they should have? Would a kinder company culture have changed anything? Does taking the time to know the people you work with really matter? I left the theatre with a greater appreciation for the giving and loving theatre communities I find myself a part of here at Penn State.
Many of the actors discussed ambition in a way that I absolutely loved during the talk back. The actress who played Gloria was especially eloquent as she described the idea that you can be ambitious and want to rise to the top, while also recognizing that your success is completely independent from anyone else’s. The notion that in order to succeed you must stomp on others is simply false. The notion that if others are succeeding then you are falling behind is completely ridiculous. The only person you are ever in competition with is yourself. This was the biggest takeaway I left the theatre with.
Gloria is not a play about gun violence. It’s a play about ambition, and how ambition can bring out the ugly side of our humanity. It’s also a play about how we shouldn’t let it.
https://www.woollymammoth.net/event/gloria
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