‘Gloria: A Life’ is a Moving and Inspirational Call to Action

“It isn’t just that we live in a patriarchy. It’s that the patriarchy lives in us.”

Witty, thought-provoking quotes from Gloria Steinem such as these abound throughout the inspiring theatrical biography that is “ Gloria: A Life,” playing through March 1 at the American Repertory Theatre. The show, an original off-Broadway production written by Emily Mann, premiered in New York in 2018. As shocking and elegant as Steinem herself, the show is a beautiful tribute to a trailblazing activist and the women’s movement to which she has been and always will be integral.

The performance space is arranged so that audience members sit in a circle face to face, evoking the experience of late-night chats around a campfire. This, as it is explained, is meant to simulate natural human interaction. The set is homey and inviting, with rugs covering the floor, pillows across the seats, and floor cushions for audience members. Everything is in warm tones of red and yellow. A white projector screen composed of tiles hangs on either side of the room, on which a montage including footage from the Seneca Falls Convention and Steinem’s life plays. The video ends with a shot of her standing, hand in the air. Then the lights go up to reveal Patricia Kalember as Steinem, holding the same pose.

The show paints a picture of Gloria Steinem’s life in the public sphere as a journalist and a feminist political activist alongside her personal life story, “together, like a braid,” as Mann explains. Steinem shares her famous Playboy bunny story before transitioning into her experience with abortion. Stories about her mother are woven into the narrative of her feminist activism. Raw, real, and vulnerable, “Gloria: A Life” is a history of the women’s movement from the perspective of one of its greatest advocates.

An all-female ensemble accompanies Kalember, helping her act out Steinem’s story and contributing their own voices. They fill out the story and the space, often scattering into the audience to speak from among the people. The result is a harmony with Steinem’s story of the women’s movement: This was, and is, a collective undertaking.

This sense of a collective is hammered home by a talking circle after the show, an open discussion with the audience meant to foster reflection and dialogue about “the play, the women’s movement, and the ongoing struggle for equality in our world today.” The conversation is launched by a special guest at each show. Guests include Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts CEO Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak, founder of Radical Black Girl Destiny Polk, and Nancy Gibbs, the first female Editor-in-Chief of TIME magazine, to name a few. The mic is then handed to any audience member who raises their hand to signal that they want to share their thoughts.

The first speaker at the Feb. 16 show underscored the reality of the stories presented in the play by courageously sharing her own abortion story. The next speaker shared her experience at the March for Our Lives and her hopes for a better world for her daughter. Most of the people who spoke were older women, people who grew up with Gloria Steinem, who experienced the feminist movement as she drove it. For me, as a young woman, listening to these women speak was eye-opening: All my life I have taken for granted the opportunities that have been given to me by these women, who fought and paved the way so that I could have this world, though still imperfect, in which to continue the fight.

“Gloria: A Life” not only tells an important and inspirational story but teaches us to listen to those around us. The show is about one woman, but it also shines a spotlight on the women in her life who helped her along the way, from activists like Dorothy Pitman Hughes and Florynce Kennedy to Steinem’s own mother. As Steinem notes in the play, “like a lot of women, I am living my mother’s unlived life.”

Gloria Steinem’s story is far from over. At 85 years old, Steinem is still engaged and active in the political sphere, making the world a better place. At the show’s conclusion, the actors leave the audience with a request: to go out and do something radical in the next 24 hours. We might not all be Gloria Steinem, but as your first radical act, you can go see this show and be inspired to make a difference.

— Staff writer Sara Komatsu can be reached at sara.komatsu@thecrimson.com.