Gloria
91

Gloria NYC Reviews and Tickets

91%
(24 Ratings)
Positive
100%
Mixed
0%
Negative
0%
Members say
Great acting, Thought-provoking, Absorbing, Relevant, Intense

About the Show

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins makes his Vineyard Theatre mainstage debut with this new play about young coworkers in a fierce work environment all vying for top status.

Read more Show less

Show-Score Member Reviews (24)

Sort by:
  • Default
  • Standing in our community
  • Highest first
  • Lowest first
  • Newest first
  • Oldest first
  • Only positive
  • Only negative
  • Only mixed
60 Reviews | 11 Followers
100
Intelligent, Must see, Resonant, Thought-provoking, Great acting

See it if You want a truly modern and bold piece of theater, one that perfectly blends comedy and drama - and one that you will never forget.

Don't see it if You don't want to be shaken up. The play is surprisingly uplifting, but it's not without its grim view of humanity. But read it at least!

ABG
162 Reviews | 72 Followers
96
Ambitious, Scary, Disturbing, Surprising, Intense

See it if You love ambitious, bold, intense new writing about big, taboo ideas.

Don't see it if You are jumpy with guns or prefer light and easy theater. This show is very upsetting.

69 Reviews | 5 Followers
95
Great acting, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Relevant, Riveting

See it if you want a smart, thought-provoking drama that makes you look at our world in new ways. Fantastic play and production.

Don't see it if you're squeamish about violence.

99 Reviews | 17 Followers
95
Absorbing, Great acting, Great staging, Funny, Eye-opening

See it if You want to see an original, shocking, brilliant satire with some amazing ensemble acting.

Don't see it if Modern-day satire among the silliest and most terrifying aspects of our society don't interest you.

509 Reviews | 336 Followers
93
Great acting, Great staging, Great writing, Intense, Original

See it if You want to see superb acting and to be transported to the world in the play. It was theater at its best. So shocking and visceral.

Don't see it if You don't like upsetting topics

232 Reviews | 20 Followers
92
Great acting, Great staging, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Relevant

See it if You are interested in learning some history provided in a pleasant form

Don't see it if You like musicals

710 Reviews | 252 Followers
90
Absorbing, Clever, Intense, Thought-provoking, Relevant

See it if You want to see an important new play by a major new voice in American theater.

Don't see it if You can't handle anything too intense.

54 Reviews | 22 Followers
89
Absorbing, Intelligent, Intense, Relevant, Thought-provoking

See it if You're a woman. You're a man trying to understand women. You have engaged in political debate or struggle.

Don't see it if You have no interest in progressive politics and no patience with protesters of any stripe. Or maybe you should....

Critic Reviews (24)

The New York Times
June 17th, 2015

"'Gloria' is a straightforward, sharp-toothed comic drama, rather in the acidic vein of Neil LaBute, Bruce Norris and Theresa Rebeck...I don’t want to make excessive claims for 'Gloria.' It isn’t written in the immortal, self-defining, action-shaping language of similar skewering comedies in which you get high listening to the propulsive, adrenalized talk. At this point, Mr. Cabnet’s production doesn’t have that compelling zing...But 'Gloria' allows us to glimpse the real, familiar, fallible human beings beneath the satirical gargoyles."
Read more

Time Out New York
June 17th, 2015

"The play's satirical streak—its sic transit gloria mundi attitude toward the media and the way it distorts us into frenzy—is accented (and sometimes stressed too hard) in Evan Cabnet’s direction. But the play has powerful things to say about how we tune in and tune out. After the shock, it’s the human touches that linger."
Read more

New York Magazine / Vulture
June 17th, 2015

"In 'Gloria' especially, he toys with audience expectation as a form of drama in itself, regardless of content; indeed, much of the content is of very little consequence...How Hollywood degrades the event further is not only disappointing as a dramatic device but also just plain stale. It may well be that Jacobs-Jenkins is using the staleness deliberately, that he wants you to choke on your giggles. The whole play has that cart-before-the-horse feeling, as if written backward from its effects to its means."
Read more

New York Daily News
June 17th, 2015

"Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a playwright on a roll, displaying diversity with this contemporary work that’s a world away from his sly, slavery-themed 'An Octoroon.' The new play isn’t as daring or deep, but it’s dexterous and entertaining...Director Evan Cabnet has assembled a terrific cast of newcomers and seasoned stage pros. Most play more than one role and impress in each...The script isn’t airtight...But the dialogue tolls like a tuning fork and captures everyday interoffice insecurity."
Read more

Variety
June 17th, 2015

"Under Evan Cabnet’s barbed direction, a smart cast applies cutting wit to satirize five ruthlessly ambitious editorial assistants and the social outcast they make the butt of their jokes. The humor is dark and cruel, but terribly funny — until it suddenly isn’t. At which point, the comedy jumps the rails and doesn’t get back on track — until it suddenly does... The scribe veers so sharply into the dark side that he abandons the vital humor that made this bleak satire of the fashionable literati such wicked fun. The play recovers its comic stride in the final scene"
Read more

The Hollywood Reporter
June 17th, 2015

"The playwright handles his serious themes in a thoughtful, provocative manner, displaying his penchant for meta-theatricality with the startling device of having nearly all of the performers take on multiple roles that playfully comment on the others...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."
Read more

New York Post
June 17th, 2015

"All you need to know is that the bitingly funny and fierce 'Gloria' is one of the year’s best shows. What playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins says about American society, the media and how we package celebrity and tragedy is as spot-on as it is depressing...'Gloria' is an adrenaline rush of a show, but it also makes you think. Let’s just say it hits the bull’s-eye."
Read more

Entertainment Weekly
June 17th, 2015

"But the play never sings with interpretive, inflammatory meaning...The words these characters speak don’t hold any compelling mystery about who they are, A touching, penetrating point about how each type of person we know, with minor adjustments, could be someone else. It’s the play’s only observation worthy of one of America’s most exciting dramatists."
Read more