Gloria (TCG Edition). Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
“Bitingly funny … We follow where the playwright leads, never sure where the story will end up but grateful to be in the company of such sharp-eyed dramatic intelligence.”
— CHARLES MCNULTY, LA TIMES
“Mr. Jacobs-Jenkins brings an anthropological accuracy to his depiction of the hierarchies, language, and rites of obeisance and humiliation in one small, intensely stratified world … A straightforward, sharp-toothed comic drama.”
— BEN BRANTLEY, NEW YORK TIMES
“A darkly comic masterpiece … A blistering satire, Gloria is a sharp, shrewd work that is bound to be a classic, and a chance to see one of the most skilled writers of our day at the height of his powers.”
— TIM SULLIVAN, BROADWAY WORLD
“Cunningly structured … the play has powerful things to say about how we tune in and tune out.”
— ADAM FELDMAN, TIME OUT NEW YORK
“A shocking, hilarious and spectacularly honest play … Gloria is a great roar of truth-telling, keenly observed, self-critical, and yet voiced with schadenfreude. You’ll be gripped.”
— CHRIS JONES, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“Harshly funny … If you relish daring, smartly written theater that digs into the pith of contemporary American culture, you’ll be positively blown away by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s harrowing workplace drama … Gloria is an intellectually rich piece of writing full of ideas about personal narrative, mediadriven desensitization, and mental health … A must-see.”
— JIM GLADSTONE, BAY AREA REPORTER
“Sharply observant and playfully theatrical, this thought-provoking work continues its talented young writer’s winning streak … As usual, the playwright handles his serious themes in a thoughtful, provocative manner … A trenchant commentary on the way in which personal tragedies merely serve as grist for the ever-ravenous media machine. A rare example of a contemporary play that keeps us constantly guessing where it’s headed, Gloria is a work not to be easily forgotten.”
— FRANK SCHECK, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is one of America’s boldest young playwrights.”
— HENRY HITCHINGS, EVENING STANDARD
“Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a playwright on a roll … The dialogue in Gloria tolls like a tuning fork and captures everyday interoffice insecurity … You never know what’s going on at the water cooler and who’s coming around the corner.”
— JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
“A knockout play … Count on Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to leave you whiplashed and shell-shocked. He hits nerve after nerve then goes for the jugular. Whatever he writes, see it … Damn, that guy can write.”
— JOE STOLTENBERG, DC METRO THEATER ARTS
“Branden Jacobs-Jenkins continues to be one of contemporary theater’s most valuable assets. This is what theater should be: unique, sharp, funny, adventurous.”
— HARVEY PERR, STAGE AND CINEMA
“Sometimes shocking, frequently hilarious … Jacobs-Jenkins’s bitchy back-and-forth is hilariously specific to the early 2010s media industry … A crackling examination of office life … It’s a play that offers you a lot to laugh about in the moment, and even more to discuss across your cubicle wall come Monday morning.”
— JOHN BAVOSO, DC THEATRE SCENE
“Another goodie from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins … A fast-talking, cynical look at office politics and the culture of creative ambition … The dialogue is super-smart, crisply funny … Gloria is always sharply entertaining.”
— HOLLY WILLIAMS, TIME OUT LONDON
“The humor is dark and cruel, but terribly funny.”
— MARILYN STASIO, VARIETY
“Crackles with familiarity … The dialogue is lightning fast, and it doesn’t take long to suck us into the office drama involving secret manuscripts, the intern’s last day and the frustrations of feeling that work is sucking all the life out of your life. There are barbs aimed at millennials and boomers, jealous tirades, and harsh confrontations, all before the lunch hour. But Jacobs-Jenkins has plans to go deeper into the office dynamic and what it means to share a formative experience with people who are neither friends nor family … Fascinating, funny, and frightening.”
— CHAD JONES, MERCURY NEWS
“Gloria takes a uniquely American look at how ego, privilege, and circumstance warp people’s relationships with trauma and the telling of its story … Gloria’s arrival is timely … disquieting and devilishly enjoyable.”
— RAPHAEL SOLARSH, ARTSHUB AUSTRALIA
“Gloria is a really, really good comedy. And it is a really, really good drama … Gloria holds up a mirror, whether you want it to or not … This is comedy with wit, bite, and fear … this is a show that creeps up on you.”
— MARY ANN JOHNSON, MD THEATRE GUIDE
“Brilliant … A biting, cynical black comedy … Jacobs-Jenkins proves himself a first-rate talent … A thought-provoking and boundary-pushing new work.”
— JULIET WITTMAN, DENVER WESTWORD
“Gloria is a startling, vivid, densely layered experience. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins wraps mirth, mayhem, and petty office politics into the plot of Gloria … He artfully captures the frustration and ennui of this flat earth with its petty jealousies, dashed hopes, and long-nurtured grievances in crisp no-prisoners dialogue. It’s all hysterically funny until suddenly, and quite shockingly, it isn’t.”
— ROBERT SOKOL, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
“Brilliant … I’ve not seen a play in recent memory that has its finger more securely on the pulse of our crazy, unsettled times … This amazing play is not about the obvious. It is more about the tenor of the times, our sense of alienation and meaninglessness … Jacobs-Jenkins hits the bull’s-eye with his searing sense of humor, offbeat imagery, and some of the freshest writing around … Gloria has it all: big views, virtuosic writing … A rare and wonderful night of theater.”
— CHANNING GRAY, PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
“The play is darkly, observantly funny thanks to Jacobs-Jenkins’s way with satire … In Gloria, Jacobs-Jenkins adroitly captures the zeitgeist of the contemporary workplace, the desire to be seen and appreciated, the psychological disconnect … Jacobs-Jenkins possesses a voice worth seeking out.”
— CHRISTINE DOLEN, MIAMI HERALD
“Anyone who’s ever worked in an office can probably relate to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Gloria … a smart, funny satire of the modern workplace … Thanks to the playwright’s right-on dialogue we’re highly entertained.”
— KAY KIPLING, SARASOTA MAGAZINE
“Provocative … Clever, devious, and unrelenting, in equal measures.”
— KATE WINGFIELD, METRO WEEKLY
“Branden Jacobs-Jenkins defies categorization … Gloria confounds expectation to a heady and exhilarating degree … Gloria is pretty glorious.”
— MATT WOLF, ARTS DESK
BOOKS BY BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS AVAILABLE FROM TCG
Appropriate/An Octoroon: Plays
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