Of all the different forms of performing art, I’ve always been fond of plays, I enjoy the live and exquisite characteristics of plays. So when I first heard the event of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, despite I had few knowledge regarding who he was, I was still excited to meet a playwright in real life and listen to his thoughts.
Before we met him in the evening, we watched a video in which he was interviewed as the 2016 MacArthur Fellow. I was impressed by his answer to what he believes theater is for. In the video, he said that he believed “theater creates a safe space for all feelings, especially ugly feelings”, theater supposed to be “the space to rehearse those feelings, feel yourself feeling those feelings and make peace with them and understand what they’re about”. This appears to be a very interesting point of view to me as I ponder more. In a dark closed space as a theater, people tend to be less resistant to reveal their genuine negative emotions and confront directly with those emotions. I suppose this is also why great plays always include some elements of “darkness”, for theater is such a safe place where people can express, taste their “ugly feelings” and gain more insights through reconciling with these feelings.
Surely the evening’s talk show did not disappoint me, Branden was not only an impressive playwright but also a humorous person. In the meeting, he talked about his thoughts behind the plays as well as the shifted theme of his work. What really enabled us to remember him and get more familiar with his works was when the actors presented us a few scenes from his plays. The one that really impressed me was Gurls, the scene was about three women partying in the forest and complaining about their life. Each character told her own ridiculous life story in an exaggerated and hilarious way, especially when the women complained about how uncomfortable the chair in her workplace was and how much work she had done to replace the chair. I really admire the actress when I saw her reading so many lines while acting devotedly at the same time.
As I recalled from now, I feel more connected to Branden’s plays, there are many details in which we could engage in our real life despite the outline of our stories can be dramatically different. He is such a brilliant playwright that I believe this evening meeting would be an unforgettable memory for many.
I’m glad you were able to feel more connected to Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ plays! He was definitely more humorous than I expected and I found Gurls to be really interesting as well. His plays are hilarious, yet they hold a deeper meaning that we have to uncover for ourselves.
I found it amazing how accomplished Branden Jacob-Jenkins is at such a young age. The acts from his plays that we watched that evening were definitely enthralling. Gloria was by far my favorite because of the way it highlighted what happens behind the scenes in a corporate world. There is a lot of shade thrown amongst the employees of the magazine company, and there is overall a surmounting amount of tension. It was impressive how the actors on stage were able to reveal elements of their character in subtle ways, such as how they changed the tone of their voices and their physical mannerisms. Jenkins has a way of bringing the business world into his plays, which is particularly interesting because he is the writer-in-resident at Baruch!