Red Orchid Theatre Presents DO YOU FEEL ANGER? Review — Empathy Over Misogyny

Posted on by Margaret Smith

Click here to read more Picture This Post Red Orchid Theatre stories.

On a minimalist stage comprised of sterile whiteboard walls and an arrangement of office furniture, comes a play full of vibrance, strokes of reality, and spot-on, occasionally bizarre comedy, making A Red Orchid Theatre’s DO YOU FEEL ANGER? more than just a look at reality.

The incredibly intimate theatre offers little barrier between cast and audience, in a room similar to a lecture hall, making our reactions to their devoted acts that much more present and involved. The entirety of the play takes place in the same conference room of a debt collection agency and, occasionally, in audio playback of voicemails and monitored calls.

Sophia (Emjoy Gavino), an empathy coach, enters this room with a bin of binders, posters and other tools of her trade. Her attention has been called to this agency because of its unequipped and unrelenting workers, who care more for themselves than the people they interact with, be it through anger, sadness, or overall indifference.

Red Orchid DO YOU FEEL ANGER
Emjoy Gavino, Lawrence Grimm, Sadieh Rifai, Bernard Gilbert, Levi Holloway.
Red Orchid DO YOU FEEL ANGER
Paul Dillon.

The irreverent and disconnected good ol’ boys of the office, Jordan (Bernard Gilbert) and Howie (Levi Holloway), along with their boss Jon (Lawrence Grimm), are the antagonists of the office.  They have a collective zero understanding of how empathy works, or the struggles of their female counterparts. They are foreign to any concept outside of “horn,” or horniness, “hunger,” and “anger.” But even those concepts they seem to very poorly understand. Thus, we are thrust into the trials of working in a male dominated office.

Then there’s Eva (Sadieh Rifai), the woman of the office, speaking incessantly on the private, personal, and almost always outrageous aspect of her life. Having been mugged relentlessly for an unspeakable amount of time in the office, Eva has come accustomed to sitting still, saying “Yes,” and apologizing whenever spoken to. She, in all of her resentment and fear, is the supposed example of the average female worker—oversexualized, overlooked, and truly sad.

The other female coworker, Janie (Jennifer Jelsema), is a silent and invisible presence in the office, since she went into the bathroom one overworked day and simply never returned. This is reminded to us by the existence of her empty chair, which still holds her pastel striped sweater.

A Red Orchid Theatre gives voice to the silent transgressions of empathy-lacking individuals

In this show, the men and women get by on the secrets and lies of their life. The women have fake boyfriends who stand between them and harassment. The tough exterior men have in reality been embarrassed or hurt in life, but would never speak of it. All of them masquerading as if they are successful at their jobs, and not broken individuals—which rings false as we listen back to recorded client interactions, in which yelling, cursing, and sobbing can be heard.

Red Orchid DO YOU FEEL ANGER
Lawrence Grimm, Emjoy Gavino.

A Red Orchid Theatre gives voice to the silent transgressions of empathy-lacking individuals

In this show, the men and women get by on the secrets and lies of their life. The women have fake boyfriends who stand between them and harassment. The tough exterior men have in reality been embarrassed or hurt in life, but would never speak of it. All of them masquerading as if they are successful at their jobs, and not broken individuals—which rings false as we listen back to recorded client interactions, in which yelling, cursing, and sobbing can be heard.

This brokenness they all experience comes out through tragic humor. Eva expresses her muggings only after mentioning the hysterical plights of past lovers. Jordan retells the embarrassment of his single life while making himself the butt of the joke. Jon shows just how little he knows about a woman’s body, making us howl at his detachment from reality. These interactions humor us as much as they concern us, as our laughter turns into blushed cheeks and hands over faces.

Can feelings be wrong?

“They’re only right because they're making up the rules.”

Gender politics and misinformation surround the office—as characterized by the men snickering at crude jokes, and the women being spoken over and told how to feel. Characters stuck in their old misogynistic or passive ways show us why it is crucial to relearn how to show, use, and project emotions.

Toward the end of the play, one character quips “Nothing happens in a split second.” How true! The story starts slow and picks up speed as both Sophia and Eva go from kind and empathetic to standing up for themselves when pushed to their limits.

There are likely many theatre-goers who will appreciate that this play didn’t attempt to take us across the rainbow and into a perfect ending. However, this reviewer wishes there had been more closure—putting to bed all of the concepts that were drudged up by the script. This is especially so of the metaphorical, almost cryptic final 10 minutes of the show. Here we get an injection of hopelessness into what might otherwise have been a glimmer of hope for the weary.

If you’re in the market for theatre that recognizes social strife through giggles and gags, DO YOU FEEL ANGER? should be on your short-list of Chicago shows this new year.

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Title:               Do You Feel Anger?
Written By:          Mara Nelson-Greenberg
Directed by:         Ensemble Member Jess McLeod

Cast:

Ensemble Members Lawrence Grimm, Levi Holloway, Sadieh Rifai, Paul Dillon, Emjoy Gavino, Bernard Gilbert, and Jennifer Jelsema.

Creative Team:

Jeff Kmiec (scenic design), Stephanie Cluggish (costume design), Mike Durst  and Rebecca Jeffords (lighting design), Elenna Sindler (sound design), Dominique Zaragoza (props design) and S.G. Heller (stage manager).

When:

Through March 15, 2020

Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.
Fridays:  7:30 p.m.
Saturdays: 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sundays:  3:00 p.m.

Where:

A Red Orchid Theatre
1531 N. Wells Ave.
Chicago

Tickets:

$15+

For full price tickets and information, go to Red Orchid Theatre website or call (312) 943-8722

Check for Half-Price Deals from Hot Tix:

Photos by Fadeout Media

Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago

photo by Mike Rundle

About the Author:

Margaret Smith is a writer, editor, and critic achieving her B.A. from Columbia College Chicago. Having migrated from small-town Illinois, she now dwells in Chicago with a curious eye for art and a penchant for commentary. When not putting pen to paper, you might catch her about the city sipping coffee and filling in crossword puzzles.

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