With a sharp eye for the dark underbelly of human behavior, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ new play Gloria shrewdly depicts the declining, dog-eat-dog industry of publishing in New York City. As an unnamed magazine struggles with the world’s encroaching descent into the digital age, the human relationships within simultaneously implode. Ani, Kendra, and Dean are the sparring, sharp-tongued assistant editors, constantly competing and complaining, vying over power and a better position. Governed by ferocious wit and corrosive dialogue, these characters spend most of the first act sniping at one another and finding ways to ignore their industry’s impending doom?until, true to Jacobs-Jenkins fashion, the action is derailed by a shocking turn. | Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Paperback | Indigo Chapters