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Gina Moxley’s Dublin Theatre Festival 2018 outing is about as newfangled as DTF gets. The Patient Gloria takes heed from The Gloria Tapes, three different approaches to psychotherapy filmed in 1960s California. These three films involve one patient, Gloria, a recently divorced mother enjoying her newfound independence and singledom. Undertaking different types of therapy, and different male therapists, the films had been intended for use in Psychology university courses throughout the US, but due to the fascination with Gloria herself, the tapes have taken on a cult quality, even being shown in cinemas. Moxley does not simply reenact these tapes, but merges the episodes with soliloquy, feminism, and music, into a joyous experience that hinges on what ‘theatre’ is.

Moxley flits between performing herself and performing the three individual psychotherapists. In a mockery of men, she characterises herself by the individual genitals of the different men – a handmade sock phallus, a silicone stretchy dildo, and an alert remake strapped onto a drone (yes, it is as bizarre as it sounds). Yet the play does not stretch into the abstract, remaining instead as a sort of conference with dramatic episodes interspersed. The audience is vocally involved. When not playing a therapist, Moxley tells autobiographical stories about womanhood, about Ireland of the 1960s, about Catholic guilt. No one quite knows what is going on, and once the audience eases into the non-linear narrative, the play relaxes.

While the three psychotherapists (one paternal, one aggressive and one predatory, according to Moxley) are differentiated with humour and ease, there is a sameness to Moxley’s performance. O’Donoghue shines as Gloria, offering a sophistication to the play. Some parts of the production felt a little unnecessary, such as when five silent young women came on stage drinking cocktails for no apparent purpose. Zoe Ní Riordáin offers sundry musical interludes, none of which progress the play in a purposeful way. Despite this, Sinéad Wallace’s lighting design is beautiful, adding a lovely filmic aesthetic to the production, and the 1960s Cali set design, with cacti and little palm tree potted plants is perfect.

In conclusion, The Patient Gloria is a laugh. While its overt feminist viewpoint is important, there is a distinct lack of intersectionality, leaving much of the audience craving a deeper focus on one of the feminist themes, rather than Moxley’s attempt to cover several. The play ends with a call to arms to rename the female g-spot as ‘The Gloria Spot’, instead of after the male gynecologist who ‘discovered’ it. Moxley’s playing with genre must be commended; I doubt any audience member was given what they expected upon entering the theatre. There are certainly worse ways to spend an evening than laughing about male genitals in an audience full of (mainly) women.

 

 

The Patient Gloria ran 28 September – 6 October 2018 at the Abbey Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival.