Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ 2015 play, in its Orange County premiere at Chance Theater, hones in on the world of publishing.

While movies that unfold in the workplace are fairly commonplace, plays in that setting are far and few between.

That makes “Gloria” something of interest for theater-goers. The dramedy by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins focuses on the lives of those in the U.S. workplace in general and the publishing industry in particular.

Along the way, it gives us an inside look at the cutthroat milieu of the ultra-competitive world of major media in the Big Apple circa the 21st century.

The play was developed at the off-Broadway Vineyard Theater and made its debut there in May 2015. In 2016, “Gloria” became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

While “Gloria” has been on the scene for nearly a decade and covers topics most can relate to, it has never been produced in Orange County. Chance Theater is about to remedy that lack in a new production directed by Marya Mazor, who has a hefty roster of credits at the Anaheim Hills venue as well as throughout Southern California.

The Director Excavates the Play’s Themes and Significance

Mazor told Culture OC the play revolves around “a group of 20-something New Yorkers, working at a prestigious literary magazine, all of whom are vying to work their way up in an industry in decline.

“They’re fiercely competitive and, at times, deeply unkind to one another, and they struggle to find their place in a field that fosters a culture of scarcity and in which opportunities are dwindling.”

She said the play and playwright ask us, “What is the price we pay for success in today’s society?” Even more crucial: “Is it worth it?’”

Chance’s website describes the initial scenario as “the office of one of New York’s most esteemed cultural magazines.” The plot kicks into gear as “a seemingly normal day turns out to be anything but” as “a group of twenty-something editorial assistants recognize an opportunity to seize a career-defining moment.”

The character of Gloria, played at Chance by Branda Lock, uncovers the “cutthroat ambitions” of her peers, triggered by “a shocking event” that causes their otherwise routine day to “spiral into chaos.”

The troupe’s site asks us, “Who has the right to tell whose story?” and calls the play “simultaneously funny and shocking.” It calls the play “an adrenaline rush of a show as … Jacobs-Jenkins skewers the cutthroat, opportunistic culture of modern media.”

Too High A Cost

“We live in a society,” Mazor said, “in which the 24-hour news cycle and cult of celebrity have elevated the pursuit of fame at all costs.”

Jacobs-Jenkins’s “Gloria” “allows audiences to question their own behaviors and how the pursuit of culturally-celebrated concepts of success – awards, recognition, financial rewards – can come at the cost of both our own mental health and our core values of treating others with humanity and respect.”

Delving deeper into what playwright and play aspire toward, Mazor relates that “we live in an ‘attention’ economy – one in which getting people to pay attention yields social status and remuneration.

“Being an ‘influencer,’” she said, “is an actual job description. This is a play which asks audiences to look at how this economy pushes us to commodify events that do not entirely belong to us in order to gain attention and its rewards, often at the expense of those around us.”

A Playwright’s Consistent Concern

As a Brooklyn resident, Jacobs-Jenkins has cultivated a close working relationship with Signature Theatre, where he has served as resident playwright. The troupe’s website describes him as “a playwright, producer and two-time Pulitzer finalist.”

While a MacArthur “genius” grant recipient who has been showrunner, executive producer and writer for Hulu/FX’s drama series “Kindred,” Jacobs-Jenkins has focused on the world of theater, his oeuvre including “Girls,” “Everybody,” “War,” “An Octoroon,” and “Neighbors,” as well as “Appropriate,” which was produced by South Coast Repertory in 2023 – and, of course, “Gloria.”

Mazor marvels at the powers of perception Jacobs-Jenkins exhibits in his plays. “He’s a truly close observer of interpersonal behavior, and he connects those behaviors with larger societal constructs of race, class and gender identity.”

She said she sees these qualities “in a number of his works, including ‘Appropriate.’”

Mazor relates that Jacobs-Jenkins “often works on adaptations, including ‘Everyman’ and ‘An Octoroon,’ and that while “Gloria” “is an original work, not an adaptation, you could see it as a response to contemporary realism.”

How “Gloria” Compares with Others Mazor has Directed

Mazor said that in seeing “Gloria,” audiences can expect the unexpected. It “takes some surprising turns and shifts of tone, which makes it different from some of the other plays that I’ve directed.”

Yet she notes that it “reinvents itself with each successive scene,” an M.O. she said calls to mind a play she has directed, Sheila Callaghan’s “That Pretty Pretty, or the Rape Play.”

The veteran director summarizes “Gloria” as bearing the playwright’s singular personal stamp: “Like all of his work, it deeply explores what it means to be human, and to behave humanely, in contemporary society.”