Review: It's empathy coach vs. dudebros in workplace satire ‘Do You Feel Anger?'

San Francisco Chronicle​

22-06-2025

An empathy coach walks into a debt collection agency, and the punch line that unfolds over the course of Marin Theatre's latest play is even funnier, more in-your-face and surprising than its setup lets on.
In playwright Mara Nelson-Greenberg's workplace satire 'Do You Feel Anger?,' abrasively crude but resonant humor is interwoven with a nuanced critique of gendered power dynamics in male-dominated environments — from men's unilateral right to feel anger (one of their three accessible feelings alongside hunger and 'horn') to the unspoken coalition that shields them from accountability. Also covered in the play, which opened Tuesday, June 17, are the ways in which this hostility pushes women, cornered into self-preservation, to turn on each other.
It all begins when Sofia (Sam Jackson), self-assured but newly encumbered with the baggage of familial betrayal, is tasked with conducting empathy trainings at a lawsuit-ridden agency led by Jon (Joseph O'Malley), the slimy boss who wants her gone as quickly as possible but savors her mandatory presence.
Here, Sofia meets the anxious Eva (Linda Maria Girón), who has long endured harassment from male co-workers Howie (Max Forman-Mullin), who has the emotional intelligence of a toddler and acts like one, and Jordan (Phil Wong), who thinks himself a refined, proficient poet and believes that empathy is a type of bird. Throwaway comments hint at the existence of a missing, unseen fourth co-worker who has ominously been in the women's restroom for days.
The trio of Girón, Forman-Mullin and Wong are especially delightful to watch — Girón's performance as Eva effectively conveys both resilience and the unshakable effects of a traumatic past. She impressively portrays the tense internal conflict between the desire to not offend one's co-workers (a concern often felt by many women) with the growing inability to comply with their abuse any longer.
Forman-Mullin and Wong make a despicable dynamic duo that you just love to hate. Though Howie and Jordan are some of the most exaggerated caricatures in the play, they're embodied so completely and seamlessly by their actors that they feel like real, awful people — enhancing their effectiveness for real-world critique. Wong's comedic timing in particular is nearly perfect in each beat, and his talent for physical comedy shines in this role.
The character of Sofia, despite a strong portrayal by Jackson, leaves a bit more to be desired. The parallel setup between the troubles in her personal life and her issues with the toxic men at work remains unclear by the play's climax, so burning questions about her relationship with her father lack satisfying closure. This confusing narrative moment feels like a missed opportunity to explore the difficulty of reckoning with gendered hostility in a more emotionally complicated, familial dynamic.
Despite this, 'Do You Feel Anger?' soars due to its shameless humor and its commitment to absurdism. You will hear characters repeatedly profess their love for 'blow jobs without reciprocation,' see a grown man throw a tantrum while screaming 'Baby says no!' and leave the theater wondering whether you should Google what a 'piss chart' is. The play's humor is crass and aggressive, but this gratuitousness smartly evokes a nuanced discomfort that develops its more serious themes.
'Do You Feel Anger?' is a tonal roller coaster with twists, drops, critical commentary and an ultimately cathartic ending. It's productively shocking, painfully cringey and so much fun (but probably leave the kids at home for this one).
Joy Diamond is a freelance writer.