Job – Contemporary Trials
Curtain. Thirty something Jane (Sydney Lemmon) holds a gun on sixty-something Loyd (Peter Friedman). “I got confused. I’m sorry, this is not who I am…” Agitated, she speaks more to herself than the intended victim. He offers water and attempts to talk her down. Half a dozen sentences in, we realize Loyd’s a therapist, Jane a first time patient. “Do you feel like hurting people… yourself?” No and no. He convinces her to put the weapon away.
Jane had a vociferous meltdown at work. Screaming from a conference tabletop, she was forcibly taken to hospital. The incident went viral. “I had a bad day.” The internet conglomerate by which she’s employed made crisis therapist evaluation a condition of return. She doesn’t think she has a problem. “I’ll give you what you need,” is her dismissive way of saying, let’s get this over with. “How do you feel?” Loyd asks. “Fuckin’ embarrassed,” comes the reply. Carrying the gun, Jane says, is a control mechanism against anxiety. He offers to walk her to a hospital.
Peter Friedman
The young woman is a professional content watchdog. She views and erases posts of violence, hate, exploitation, brute sex…all day, every day judging the worst humanity generates. “… You have to take the bad out of the world…It’s a privilege to suffer…” Descriptive examples are chilling. On the basis of her responsibilities, Loyd has sympathy for the breakdown and wonders why she stays at such an upsetting job. “We’ve gone from exploring our own minds,” the Boomer reflects darkly, “to having our minds harvested for market research.”
Jane has found her purpose in life. Half martyred, half need for a hairshirt in order to feel anything, she clings to the job like a lifeboat. The outburst, she protests, was provoked by an old boyfriend, not work. Intermittent questions about a seemingly normal upbringing are calmly answered. Dialogue is peppered with shrink-speak, none of which sounds false. Eschewing established rules, however, Loyd responds to Jane’s increasingly personal inquiries, unlikely, especially with his history. He stops only when she asks his address.
Sydney Lemmon, Peter Friedman
There’s method to her madness. Somehow Jane has engineered having to see this particular therapist. Suspecting Loyd of heinous crimes, she takes retribution into her own hands.Though the plot twist – more of a pretzel – is persuasive, the play suddenly becomes two-headed. That moral issues are presumed rhetorical is clear. That inadequate clues leave us without the truth might’ve worked had the playwright not decided to double up. Lack of resolution to what becomes a stand-off feels like a dodge.
Veteran Peter Friedman delivers yet another grounded performance. Withholding action and measuring words, the character calculates with proud, practiced compassion. Two sudden, shocking outbursts support roiling beneath the surface as he tries to stay ahead of Jane – and alive.
Sydney Lemmon
Sydney Lemmon is a FIND. Never still, nerves almost visible, the actress conveys fisheye observation, wrenching indecision, and Jane’s extreme instability. Nuanced portrayal of the extremely smart, agonized young woman is masterful. An artist to watch.
Director Michael Herwitz shows a sure hand with the two radically different characters. Pacing is adroit. Use of electronic hum to indicate moments of high tension is effective. (Sound Design- Jessie Char & Maxwell Neely-Cohen) Flashing, colored lights repeatedly arrive a distracting gimmick. (A pinball mind, computer clicks, sensory overload?) Reason for a mottled mask is obscure.
Scott Penner’s set works well. Costumes by Michelle J. Li are perfect character packaging.
Max Wolf Friedlich has his finger on the pulse of a generation enmeshed in and in many ways controlled by the internet. Most arguments around the subject are based on social media malfeasance or ineptitude. Here we experience what it might be like for someone coping with the carnivorous behemoth from the inside. Both point of view and the weaving in of a tipping point are as refreshingly original as they are riveting. Is Loyd the man she thinks he is? Does Jane follow through with her original intentions?
Photos by Emilio Madrid
Job by Max Wolf Friedlich
Directed by Michael Herwitz
With Peter Friedman & Sydney Lemon
Connelly Theater
221 East 4th Street
Through March 3, 2024
