Presents

Gloria

Jan. 31-Feb. 8, 2025
Robert Cohen Theatre

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Scenic Designer | Gretchen Ugalde
Assistant Scenic Designer | Rojin Bolandbakht 
Props Designer | Pam Marsden
Lighting Designer | Mac McDermott
Assistant Lighting Designer | Rin Mizumoto 
Costume Designer | Christina Toth
Costume Project Manager | Ashley Morgan 
Sound Designer | Andrew Yoder  
Dramaturg | Diana Fathi 

Director
Andrew Borba

Assistant Director
Linda McDaniel

Composer
Eric Backus

Production Stage Manager
Jordyn McEvoy 

Assistant Stage Managers
Ruby Lapeyre, Sammie D. Moore  

Production Assistants
Ben Leet, Eddie Tyler 

Fight Consultants
Gregory Hoffman, Vivianna McCormick 

“The Glitter Witch” is written and composed by Eric Backus and performed by Marissa Lauren 

Setting: The Midtown offices of an American Magazine, circa the 2010s. 

Dramatis Personae 

Dean/Devin, extra late 20s 
Kendra/Jenna, mid-late 20s  
Ani/Sasha/Callie, early 20s 
Gloria/Nan, extra late 30s 
Miles/Shawn/Rashaad, 20 years old 
Lorin, late 30s 

Content Warning: Gloria contains strong language, intense themes and dialogue, and depictions of violence, including sudden loud noises. If such content could be distressing to you and you want to know more details, click on this link for information (including spoilers).

There will be one 10-minute intermission. 

Gloria is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)

CAST

UNDERSTUDIES

Major support for Gloria is provided by Robert and Lorna Cohen Endowment for Excellence in Drama, the Theatre Guild and the Claire Trevor Society. Additional support provided by Theater of Community.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

I have a particular aversion to Director’s Notes. As much as I applaud inquisitive audience members, (full disclosure, I often return to a play’s program for more information after I have seen a performance), I prefer a theatrical work to reveal itself to me over the course of the performance. Fresh. The curtain is down, the lights dim, and for that brief, extended moment, we, the audience, sit communally in darkness and expectation…and then…magic: the story, the performances, and the design coalesce to create an imaginary world, and whether the world of the play resembles the world I live in or not, the human truths explored within the work are what resonate. 

So, I’m sorry, I’m not going to tell you what happens in this play before you see it. And I don’t want to list many trigger warnings. Not only because recent studies are inconclusive regarding the effectiveness of trigger warnings, and many suggest that the warnings themselves are more triggering than what occurs on stage; but because I want you to experience this play fresh. While we were rehearsing Gloria, we had the opportunity to be in conversation with the playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, and he expressly said, “A play is intended to be provocative; to be triggering.” Jacobs-Jenkins has written this play to stir you, to entertain you, and to make you think and feel. And if in producing it we’ve done our jobs well, we will have created a world where you can do all those things safely. Perhaps not always comfortably, but safely.  

Let’s be clear, the Theater is fake. We all know and accept that it’s fake. The actors are people, but not the actual characters they portray; the walls are one-sided and wafer-thin, the bricks are usually cast out of styrofoam, and the events that happen are staged and will be repeated again at the next performance. Our communal agreement is that we, the artists, pretend and that you, the audience, knowingly witness this representation in a controlled environment. And miraculously, this intentional fabrication somehow frees the audience to witness without consequence. In the theater, we can watch acts of betrayal, love, lust, comedy, violence, sex, pride, pettiness, grandeur, and heroics without the lasting effects of such things if they occurred in real life. Plays are a dress rehearsal for us to try on events and circumstances that might help us grow a little bit as humans without paying the existential cost of actually going through those events. For a brief moment of your suspension of disbelief, you are rewarded with insight into the human condition. 

I will say this: something happens in this play. Actually, many things happen in this play. And we hope this story makes you feel and think and talk to others about your experience here today. If you really must know beforehand, there’s a link in the program for more specific information. I will be here after every show to begin or continue the conversation.  

Above all, thank you for being here, for sharing this communal experience, and for entering into this fake world so that we as a community might come a little closer to understanding the truth of what it is to be human.   

– Andrew Borba, director

Special Thanks To
Dutch Merrick for safety protocols
Sam (Mingxi) Sun for translations 

DRAMA FACULTY

Joel Veenstra, Chair

Lonnie Alcaraz
Cynthia Bassham
Andrew Borba
Richard Brestoff
Juliette Carrillo
Myrona DeLaney
Efren Delgadillo Jr.
Zachary Dietz
Holly Poe Durbin
Marcy Froehlich
Michael Hooker
Daniel Keeling
Anthony Kubiak
Daphne Lei
Tiffany Ana López
Annie Loui
Ian Munro
Yee Eun Nam
Vincent Olivieri
Andrew Palermo
Zachary Price
Bryan Reynolds
Tara Rodman
Eli Simon
Jaymi Lee Smith
Philip Thompson

DRAMA STAFF

Marcus Beeman, Management Services Officer
Charmayne Durham, Department Analyst

In addition to our MainStage shows, the Department of Drama invites you to join us for other exciting productions throughout the year, created by artists in the following student clubs:

	Brown Bag Theatre Company
	Improv Revolution
	The Black Door Theatre Company
	Theatre Woks
	Brick Theatre Company
	30 Plays in 60 Minutes – Schrodinger’s Cast
	Metro Theatre Company
	Director Class Projects

Thank You!

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts would like to recognize those donors who gave $1,000 or more during the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Visionaries $1 million+
Mr. J.S. Kim

Ambassadors $100,000–$250,000
Beall Family Foundation
Matthew and Janet Proudfoot

Partners $50,000–$99,999
Susan Hori *+

Investors $25,000–$49,999
Matt Bailey *+
Joseph Huszti ‡
Leo Freedman Foundation
James and Sheila Peterson *+
Richard B. Siegel Foundation
Steven M. Sorenson Foundation *+

Patrons $10,000–$24,999
Anonymous Donors
Dennis and Diane Baker
The Estate of Ann and William Cullen
Farmers & Merchants Bank Foundation
Mary Gilly and John Graham +
Tyler Holcomb
Cloud Hsueh ‡ and Fang Hsu
The Estate of Bobi Keenan
James and Katie Loss
Robert Peirson +
Cheryll and Richard Ruszat *+
The Segerstrom Foundation
The Shubert Foundation

Benefactors $5,000–$9,999
Kimberly Burge
Anthony Chen, M.D. and Yali Chen
Robert Farnsworth and Lori Grayson +
Valerie Glass
Pamela and Carl Lagoni
Helen and Fritz Lin
Goran Matijasevic +
Julia Reinhard Lupton and Kenneth Reinhard +
Kenneth and Helene Rohl
Diane Silber +
Susan and Eugene Spiritus
Socorro and Ernesto Vasquez +
Mary Watson-Bruce *+

Fellows $2,500–$4,999
Edward and Janis Carpenter +
Gerald and Veronica DeVries
Albert and Anne Encinias +
Tamara Fabian
Alvin and Rosalie Glasky +
James and Gail Lopes
Tiffany López *+
Chris Mesel
Howard and Ellen Mirowitz +
The Robert and Doreen Marshall Fund for Dramatic Arts and Classical Music
Orange County Community Foundation
Pacific Art Foundation
Hemantha Wickramasinghe +

Advocates $1,000–$2,499
Elaine and Daniel Aldrich +
Brien Amspoker and Ellen Breitman +
Nancy Arnold
Joyce Averna +
Stephen and Michelle Barker +
Haroutune and Lorna Bedelian
Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver
Kevin Bossenmeyer and Terilea Wielenga
Gwendolyn and Ian Black
Donald and Toni Bradley
Clinton and Allison Chao
Ralph and Carol Clayman
Joseph Connor
Jaime DeJong +
Thomas and Ainin Edman +
Barbara Finlayson-Pitts
John and Michele Forsyte +
Douglas and Lynn Freeman +
Diana Ghoukassian +
Donald and Pamela Gilmour
Michael and Karol Gottfredson +
Carol Greenwald +
Loreen and Andrew Guilford
Edwin and Norma Henderson
Jamison Judd +
Mary Karyl and John Thorne
Timothy and Pamela Kashani +
Yang-Uk Kim +
Jennifer Klein +
Michael and Elaine Kleinman
Susan and Lynn Lasswell +
Jeff Lefkoff and Mary Gholson
Nancy Locke +
Heather MacDonald and Erich Eichman
Margaret and Mark Marshall
Jared and Kathryn Mathis +
Gary and Maya Matkin +
Anthony and Rachel Maus
Kathleen Mellon
William and Lane Minton
James Nelson
Michael Oppenheim
Karine Rivet +
Carolyn Scheer
Paula and Steve Schwartz
Nina Scolnik
Ronald and Sandi Simon +
Gary and Melanie Singer +
Mitchell and Maureen Spann +
Vina Spiehler
Richard and Alison Stein *+
Thomas and Marilyn Sutton +
The Tigger Fund
Jason and Desiree Valdry
Joel Veenstra and Family +
Irwin and Michele Walot
James White
Lorri and Mike Whitney
S. Ama Wray
Katy Young and Christopher Lee
Shirley Zanton and Michael Whalen

Legacy and Endowment Donors
We are grateful for the trust and foresight of those who have ensured the Claire Trevor School of the Arts’ brilliant future by establishing an endowed fund or have included us in their estate plans.
Anonymous Donors
Diane and Dennis Baker
Edna Beach ‡
The Donald Bren Foundation
Ann Cullen ‡
Robert ‡ and Lorna Cohen
Frank D’Accone ‡
William Daughaday
Kris and Linda Elftmann
Leo Freedman Foundation
William J. Gillespie ‡
Henry W. Bull Foundation
Gunther Holland ‡
Bobi Keenan ‡
Victor Klein ‡
Beth Koehler ‡
Walter Koehler ‡
Michael and Stacy Koehn
Elaine Koshimizu ‡
Lucille Kuehn ‡
Betty C. Leidal ‡
Alice S. Lowell ‡
Fariborz and Azam Maseeh
Meyer Sound
Thomas Nielsen
Virginia and Norman Nixon ‡
Ronald C. Offen ‡
Michael R. Oppenheim
Lois J. Osborne ‡
Matthew and Janet Proudfoot
Marjorie and Robert Rawlins ‡
Sylvia and Frederick Reines ‡
Ryna H. Rothberg
Nancy Ruyter
Helene Santley ‡
Audrey M. Schneiderman ‡
H. Colin Slim ‡
Winifred Smith ‡
Thomas and Elizabeth Tierney
Claire Trevor ‡
Andrew Vacca
Bette Warner ‡
Hal B. Yolen ‡

* Dean’s Arts Board Members
+ Claire Trevor Society Members
‡ In Memoriam

This list represents generous gifts, pledges and pledge payments made between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. Multi-year pledges are recognized for their full amount in the fiscal year they are made, and subsequent payments are recognized for their cash value. Please accept our apologies for any errors or omissions in this list. For questions, please contact ctsadevelopment@uci.edu.

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