“I’m going to turn this office into an empathy engine!” promises cheerily upbeat, newly hired empathy coach Sofia early on in Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s quasi-old-school theater-of-the-absurd comedy “Do You Feel Anger?” onstage at Marin Theatre.
Sofia has her work cut out for her. Corrosive machismo reigns supreme in this debt-collection agency: The boss, Jon (played with smarmy gusto by Joseph O’Malley), who is eager for this mandated corporate-training session to be over, says things like, “I really want to pretend that I’m a good guy.” He has no idea what women’s “periods” are.
The two equally dimwitted bros, Jordan (Phil Wong), who believes that empathy is a bird, and Howie (Max Forman-Mullin), an out-of-control rageaholic, are preternaturally horny.
And the character we’re meant to empathize with, vulnerable Eva (played with a loud, nervous cackle by linda maria girón), is so emotionally oppressed that she’s resigned to the fact that she’s mugged every day at work on her way to the office kitchen. (She’s also given to blurting out statements like “I ate my sister in the uterus.”)
In this rampantly sexist environment, in which all the workers are completely out of touch with the concept of empathy, even Sofia the coach (Sam Jackson, played so much more realistically than the other, super-cartoony characters that it’s tonally confusing) eventually finds herself struggling to stay true to her values.
The setup is promising, but the nonsensical and wince-inducing humor quickly wears thin. How many times can you laugh at the men’s solemn, oft-repeated announcement, “I like blow jobs without reciprocation”?
Two additional characters (played by Atosa Babaoff) feel like add-ons: Sofia’s anxious mother on the phone (presumably meant to be a voice-over but personified here) and a former, ill-fated employee. The brief appearance of an addled old man (Jesse Caldwell) is also extraneous.
A final, surreal scene changes the entire theatrical mood. As written, and as staged with dramatic intensity by director Becca Wolff, it’s meant to be healing for the female characters but instead is downright confusing.
Toxic workplaces, rampant with sexism, abound, for sure, and are ever ripe for satirizing. Here, though, Nelson-Greenberg’s humor is more labored than funny, and Wolff’s efforts to ratchet up the comedy become repetitive, even mind-numbing—all despite the best efforts of a talented cast.
“Do You Feel Anger?” continues through June 29, 2025 at Marin Theatre, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. Tickets are $51-$95 at Marintheatre.org.
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