Branden Jacob Jenkins is a playwright who draws from a range of historical and contemporary theatrical genres to explore issues around identity, class, and race. Many of his plays use satire to comment on modern culture, particularly the ways class is negotiated in private and public settings. Jacob-Jenkins does a fantastic job of creating situations that are unsettling and confrontation to the audience and the actors. There is no wonder he is such an accomplished person. He is the recent recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, an honor that gives him great recognition and a generous stipend of $625,000.

After watching the performance of the second act of Jacob-Jenkins play, Gloria, I was able to understand that he is nothing short of a genius. Gloria was unlike any play I have ever heard of or watched. It left me with a rush of adrenaline and left me thinking about American society, the ubiquitousness of media and how we package celebrity and tragedy. While discussing many controversial themes, Gloria left me smiling and laughing as I listened to the banter between two protagonists, Dean and Kendra. In the play, they both meet up at Starbucks to discuss the aftermath of Gloria’s murder spree and eventual suicide. Initially, they both seem sympathetic to effects that their counterparts faced. In Kendra’s tone and dialogue, it was clear that she felt bad for the panic attacks that Dean had gone through as a result of “Gloria.” Yet, the commentary on sympathy between both characters becomes a ping-pong ball bounced between two paddles. Kendra and Dean are both victims of Gloria’s actions but are unsure of who is placed in a worse position as a result of Gloria. Eventually, the conversation is exacerbated to the point where these two characters begin pointing fingers at each other for their current and past actions in their magazine office in New York City. Dean states brashly that Kendra has always been a stook-up co-worker who exploited others for her own financial and emotional gain. On the other hand, Kendra is upset at Dean for acting like a sad puppy after Gloria’s aftermath. Both of them further discuss what they plan to write about their encounters with Gloria’s incident. While Dean has a publisher who wants him to write about an autobiography of himself leading to Gloria’s murder spree, Kendra wants to write about the stories of the victims who died. Both of them debate over who should be more entitled to writing about the gruesome actions of Gloria. The end of the act left me at a cliff-hanger, wanting more. I will watch the entire play one day and am looking forward to it. I love how he is able to incorporate issues in the modern day into his play.