High-Octane Gloria Heads to The Gamm

The Gamm Theatre is continuing their new season with the dark comedy Gloria, from playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate). The play made its debut off-Broadway in May 2015 and was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The action takes place in the New York office of an upscale magazine focusing on news and entertainment (loosely based on The New Yorker). A diverse group of editorial assistants are competing for stories and hoping to reach the top of their profession.

The cast includes Jeff Church (Shakespeare in Love), Alison Russo, Jordan Clark, Marc Pierre, Jennifer Mischley and Gabriel Graetz. Director Rachel Walshe (As You Like It) says the play is “exceedingly timely” due to its depiction of the public’s relationship to news and how news is reported. Walshe considers Jacobs-Jenkins “one of the most exciting playwrights working today.”

“One of the most exciting aspects of the play for me is that this is a time right before we almost move our entire social and media life online,” Walshe said.

The characters are working in an environment “where they are essentially a dying breed” because they are working for print media,” Walshe continued. “For me, that was a really interesting moment of time to look at. It is also a very timely look at our relationship to the work environment, how we communicate with each other and how we tell each other the news, and these characters are exceedingly recognizable.”

There is also a major plot development that will shock and surprise audiences. Walshe doesn’t spoil what happens, but notes its relevance to what is happening in our country today.

Audiences can expect a high-octane experience that Walshe believes “will excite and rattle them to their core.”

Gloria runs Nov 21 – Dec 16 at Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick. For tickets, gammtheatre.org or 401-723-4266