I surprisingly really enjoyed myself during the conversation with Branden Jacob-Jenkins at the Baruch Performing Arts Center back in October. I enjoyed how personal and intimate the setting was and how real the topics discussed were. The two readings that I really enjoyed were Gloria and Gurls.

Prior to meeting with Branden Jacob-Jenkins, we watched a clip of Gloria. The setting took place in an office with a few workers gathered around talking about their experiences as interns. It took a comedic route as there was a back and forth bickering between the workers. However, in the reading of Gloria on stage with Branden Jacob-Jenkins, the mood was more solemn with a dark undertone. The dramatic reading occurred between two workers months after a shooting occurred at their office. Gloria, their coworker, brought a gun to work and shot up the office, killing and injuring her coworkers, before eventually killing herself. In this dramatic read, we see the traumatizing effects between Kendra, someone who was not there during the shooting but lost many close friends, and Dean, someone who first handedly experienced the shooting. They discuss how they have been after this traumatic event occurs and what they are currently doing with their lives. Both are intending to write a book about what they have been through. However, Dean gets defensive and says Kendra does not have the right to write about an event that she did how actually experience. I thought that Dean was being selfish, as this was a traumatic event that they both had to go through. They both lost friends and have a right to tell their stories; It is not only his story to tell. I felt myself being drawn to every word that the characters were saying. I thought that the dramatic read was insightful and made me think about how trauma can affect people in different manners.

On the other hand, Gurls, was quite different from Gloria, although both had deeper messages underneath the surface. Gurls was both comedic and dark as girls shared stories of things they would typically keep hidden away. However, when they get together in a circle in a forest, they start to share their darkest secrets of murder, their families and relationships. Although we are laughing because of how the girls are portraying themselves and how they talk, we realize the seriousness of the situations that they are in.