By Michele Markarian
“Gloria: A Life” – Written by Emily Mann. Directed by Diane Paulus. Presented by American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, through March 1
“Social justice movements start with people siting in a circle,” Gloria Steinem (Patricia Kalember) informs the audience sitting in the round at American Repertory Theater at the beginning of Gloria: A Life. A shy woman who wanted to become a political journalist, Steinem became an unlikely spokesperson of the women’s movement. For those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s, Steinem was our touchstone, the person who, unflappable and balanced, represented all that we were becoming. Her book, “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” was de rigeur feminist reading in the 80s. Yet, as is unfolded during the 100 minutes of Gloria: A Life, she was supported and pushed by many insistent and persistent female voices, including ours.
Less of a play and more of a monologue with enacted flashbacks, Gloria gives us a timeline of the events leading up to Gloria’s awakening and beyond. Born in Ohio to a financially irresponsible father and a depressed mother – she had been institutionalized after suffering a “nervous breakdown” – the young Gloria escaped to Smith College in Northampton, and eventually to New York. “Like a lot of women, I am living the unlived life of my mother”, she tells us, as she attempts to be taken seriously as a female reporter. Ruth Steinem had been a journalist herself before Gloria was born, and before marriage and divorce to her free-spirited husband sank her. Gloria was a bit of a free spirit herself; at twenty-two, she had an abortion and broke off an engagement in London to a perfectly nice, appropriate man who she knew she didn’t love, and escaped to India to work as a law clerk.
Kalember plays Steinem with just the right amount of friendliness, humor and self-effacement, so convincingly that it’s hard to separate the real Gloria from the actress. While the presentational nature of Mann’s play doesn’t necessarily produce the emotional response of a more traditional narrative structure, the subject herself garners much feeling. The excellent supporting ensemble does a lot to move the action forward and provide context. One of the more affecting moments of the show is a scene between Gloria and her mother, Ruth (Johanna Glushak). Glushak transforms into the mentally disintegrating Ruth with such vividness that we instantly realize the profound effect she had on her young daughter.
Gloria is quick to point out the leadership she gets credit for is shared. Women of color – Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Florence Kennedy, Wilma Mankiller – are given due credit, as well as Bella Abzug and Dorothy Dinnerstein. Gloria acknowledges her debt to black women, saying that most of what she learned about feminism she learned from them. “Sexism and racism are always intertwined,” she tells us. Vintage footage of Richard Nixon (dissing Steinem) and Ronald Reagan, with his Let’s Make America Great Again slogan (sound familiar?) remind us that the more things change, the more they remain the same. While we have come far, thanks to Steinem and the Women’s Movement, we still have work to do. But Gloria is a self-proclaimed “hopeaholic”. In her fifties, she has a breakdown/through of her own, realizing that her life on the road has left little time for introspection. Hence the authorship of the acclaimed “Revolution from Within”.
As promised at the top of the show, the second part of Gloria is indeed a social justice movement, where, in the spirit of a Quaker meeting, a talking circle is introduced. Members of the audience are encouraged to share their stories, concerns, frustrations and dreams. It’s a powerful, emotionally charged shared space. Older women, younger women, trans women, and men came forward to convey how much Steinem’s efforts had affected them, were continuing to affect them. The real Gloria Steinem was leading the circle the night I attended, which was akin, for many of us, to an audience with the Pope. As one would expect, her demeanor is calm, kind, intelligent, non-judgmental and ageless. At 85, she moves well and can enviably rock a pair of leather pants. She is indeed a hopeaholic as she reminds us – paraphrasing Napoleon – that “The most dangerous time is after a victory”. In these dangerous times of injustice, unfair privilege and outrageous mendacity, Gloria: A Life is a hopeful reminder of what can be accomplished if we come together and take action over a shared vision. For tickets and information, go to: https://americanrepertorytheater.org/
