Theatre Review: Do You Feel Anger? YES, I DO!
Written by Mara Nelson Greenberg, Do You Feel Anger? is absurd in humor. It is silly, deranged, and follows the likes of Workaholics or The Office in creating a work space filled with crazy characters that make you say, “If they can get hired, so can I?” While you laugh at the amazing cast’s ability to make their antics oddly real and accessible, there is a tragic truth that pulses through every joke; men treat women horribly.
Tiffany Villarin plays Sofia; an empathy counselor hired by a debt collection agency, currently, racking up lawsuits because they are cruel. You laugh at the recordings of them ridiculously lacking compassion towards people audibly upset. Yet, as the 90 minute play progresses, you see there is nothing funny about being merciless. Moreover, you witness that the meanness they carry in their work is reflective of the cruelty they carry in their lives, particularly in the relationships between women and men.
Justin Long’s Howie, Greg Keller’s Jon, and Ugo Chuckwo’s Jordan are the mighty triumvirate of buffoonery and emotional stupidity. They get some of the biggest laughs because they are too outlandish for you not to crack a smile like, their belief that empathy is a bird, menstruation is simply when women pee more, and their need of “anger naps” when a woman says they are being horrible. Hence, they also represent everything a woman could hate about a man. They have absolutely NO knowledge or respect for women’s feelings or bodies, but what makes Greenberg’s script so nuanced is that she shows they do not want to. They truly prefer making women feel horrendously unsafe and self-hating, but cower at the idea of anyone shaming them about it.
I loved that Greenberg and Director Margot Balderon approached the difficulty of accepting that there are men who would NEVER see a woman as equal or due of civility. They represent our truth, particularly through Sofia; who hides her intelligence and anger in hopes of “transforming” these men that are not worth or capable of doing better. Villarin makes Sofia’s loss of dignity a slow-moving tragedy, and uses her relationship with her mom (Jeanne Sakata) to reflect her character’s hypocrisy. She saves empathy and excuses for men that are immensely barbaric and purposefully brutish towards women; acting as if they do not know better or if only someone taught them to do good. Yet, part of why you laugh at Howie, Jon, and Jordan is because they are disgusting, and part of why we cry is because they are powerful.
In this world, meritocracy is really the inheritance of privilege and the not so tall order to keep it. These guys may be seen as slimy, debt collectors, but, in their male power, they have accosted and endangered Megan Hill’s Eva. Every time Hill enters the office set, (created by Laure Jellinek), her sweetness and delusions enrapture the audience. She is such a breath of fresh air who finds her blossoming friendship with Sofia to be like pure oxygen in a toxic environment. Yet, she becomes a tragic hero as we watch everyone around her, including Sofia, force her goodness to compensate for her coworkers’ badness. She is becomes a symbol that women go through so many tiny, spiritual deaths in the form of work-force humiliations. Yet, we are constantly are reborn stronger, despite men’s literal attempts to destroy us but act like they are not. The men’s fear of shame, while the women fear actual death, is a typical, “victim blaming” dynamic that is fleshed out to ask viewers, “Why do we let the worst of us define the best of us?”
Eva never received any recompense or reward for holding her dignity and her broken heart as everyone tried to cater and comfort the abominable, even violent men around her. As a female viewer, I found my discomfort and anger grow because such dynamics are everywhere, especially between oppressors and the oppressed. It made wonder if even in our intelligence, we are unwise. Sofia is smart, but rather than making a good person (Eva) better, she became obsessed with trying to make the worst people (the men) good, which is like trying to turn the moon into the sun. Vineyard Theatre is located 108 East 15th Street.Do You Feel Anger? Is playing at Vineyard Theatre until April 20 Click Here.
