Houston audiences have been well-acquainted with James Black for his acting and directing work at Alley Theatre as a Resident Company Member. They know him as the trusted, competent and knowledgeable soul who filed in as interim director of the Alley for a year while the theater company was between directors.

What frequent theater-goers may not have known, however, was Black's love for dark satire — a passion he's getting to exercise as he directs the Houston premiere of 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist Gloria at 4th Wall Theatre Co.

"I've always been a fan of dark satire," says Black. "The darker, the more outrageous, the better, I grew up loving movies like Network, Dr. Strangelove or Brazil. And more recently movies like Jo Jo Rabbit and Don't Look Up.

"I just love how those films can be so outrageous and exaggerated and over the top one moment and shockingly real the next. I like that sudden change of gears," he says.

Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Gloria opens in a Manhattan magazine office in 2010 — about the time that print journalism fortunes began their decline with the arrival of online publications — adding an extra layer of desperation on top of the usual office politics, Black says.

"Gloria's not as pressing as Brazil or Network; it's not really bothered with looking toward the future; it's perfectly happy taking a sledgehammer to the present."

The play examines what happens in an office when tensions rise and co-workers wonder who will survive the coming cutbacks. "These millennials are anxious and willing to do anything to climb out of their artistic way station that they're stuck in," Black says.

With the second scene, the action moves to a Starbucks down the street. "The play starts to examine trauma and the monetizing of tragedy, " Black says. "And the third scene is set in a film television production company several years later where media complicity meets the themes of the first two acts.

"It's a brutally funny three-scene satire about office politics among many other things and it's all told with a wicked, dry humor. It's satire that drifts into horror and right back into dark satire again. "

Asked if he's ever worked in a place with office politics and in-fighting, Black laughs, saying: "I think we all have. It's universal. That's one of the interesting things about the play. You have a cast of six that play 13 roles. And there's no attempt to disguise them as they take on these other roles because they are so familiar and we've all encountered them."

The cast include Wesley Whitson, Karina Pal Montaño-Bowers, Skyler Sinclair, Brooke Wilson as Gloria, Tadrian White and Brandon Hearnsberger.

Asked about "good guys and bad guys" in the play, Black says most of the characters in the play "are in a grey area."

The play is character-driven rather than plot-driven, he explains. "It's people sitting around talking about their desires and dreams while at the same time pointing out other people's flaws and failures."

4th Wall Artistic Director Philip Lehl and actor/director Kim Tobin-Lehl approached Black about directing this play. "I jumped at the opportunity," he says. Besides just the play itself, he says he found that he loved working on a smaller stage.

"I found it so invigorating to be back at work at a smaller venue where budgets are smaller and everything is on a much smaller scale except for the love for theater and the desire to create good work," he says. "You have actors who maybe don't have the experience but have the hunger that recharges me and reminds me why I got into the business in the first place. I love their fearlessness and their obvious love for the craft because most of them come to rehearsal straight from their day jobs.

"So it takes me back to the early '80s before Main Street Theater had a space and we performed in the cafeteria of Autrey House. You got there early to fold up the tables and chairs and roll the salad bar into the hallway. You put up your set and seating and you'd do a show and you'd stick around afterwards and take the set apart and reassemble the cafeteria. But there were no complaints. Everyone felt great for just having the opportunity. I've come full circle and I can't complain either."

Performances are scheduled for March 24 (preview night with opening on March 25 through April 16 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, with Industry Night/Pay What You Can at 7:30 p.m. Monday April 11 at Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring Street, Studio 101. Proof of negative COVID-19 test or full vaccination required. Masks required. For more information, call 832-767-4991 or visit 4thwalltheatreco.com. $16-$53.