The Broadway Theatre Review: Max Wolf Friedlich’s JOB
By Ross
On a sharply defined theatrical space, now on Broadway at The Hayes Theatre after a triumphant run off-Broadway, a psychological standoff of intense proportions is what immediately snaps us straight into the emotionally volatile and fascinating world of JOB, the thrilling, critically acclaimed new play by Max Wolf Friedlich (SleepOver). Working through in captivating real-time, the play is a supremely tense, tight, and tumultuous zooming in on mental health and the workplace, when one young tech worker, played to frayed perfection by Sydney Lemmon (“TÁR“, “Succession”) is mandated to seek the services of a crisis therapist, fascinatingly well-played by Peter Friedman (PH’s The Treasurer; “Succession”).
Directed with clarity and sharp cleverness by Michael Herwitz (MV Playhouse’s The Campaign That Failed), the setup and startup of this armed and well-aimed play grab hold quickly, tying us sharply into the space, designed by Scott Penner (Coal Mine’s Dion: A Rock Opera), with exacting costuming by Michelle J. Li (Comedy Central’s “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens”). The play, feeling a tad less claustrophobic on that more filled-in Broadway stage, shoves us off balance, making us lean in to try to comprehend what exactly is bringing these two together beyond the obvious. Lemmon’s Jane and Friedman’s Loyd, fill the space with their tightly wound electricity, peering into each other’s framings with an overwhelming anxiety; part fear, part fascination. Using paradigms and conflictual standings between generations, genders, and political viewpoints, the prodding and analyzing never lets up in both directions. It’s wisdom and shame connecting and colliding, setting up a chaotic and life-threatening game of chess, that feels more captivating on a second go-round.
Something has sent this young female big tech employee over the edge, causing a viral unhinged meltdown that we only secondhand hear about. But it clearly is a scream into the internal and internet void aimed at something overwhelming and disturbing. We assume, like the therapist, that Jane’s job, the one she has been put on leave from and the one she is desperate to get back to, is the cause, and the more we hear and learn, the more we understand, or at least, we think we do.
It’s a sizzlingly tight psychological dive into trauma and destruction, beautifully enhanced by the strong and jarring lighting design by Mextly Couzin (MCC’s Which Way to the Stage), compelling original music by Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange), and the clever, intrusive, and more pointed sound design created miraculously by Cody Spencer (Broadway’s The Outsiders). It’s far more profound and pronounced than before when I saw it first downtown; more pointed and perplexing, jabbing sharpness into our hands to examine our obscured vantage points. It is alarmingly pulling, forcing us to try to make sense of all the voices and sounds rattling around in the red light pulsations that become siren flags and weapons used against our senses, aiding our discomfort but demanding us to lean in more to the frantic essence of a person overwhelmed.
As a psychotherapist myself (in my real world), the play connected deeply to so many difficult dilemmas and challenges that step into the shared space of the therapy room. The passionate counterarguments and denials of need are well-known engagements, and I couldn’t help but find fascination and connectivity to their standoff, even as they both lean in and away from one another one minute to the next. The two actors are spectacularly detailed in their stance, both physically and mentally, moving around the classic therapy space with precision and expertise.
Returning and wrapping themselves around one another to points made, they twist and dig into the darkness of the web and the idea around an obligation to help, on both sides. Is it projection, paranoia, a psychotic break, or some kind of profound chance and opportunity, becoming increasingly life-or-death, as the armed walls of JOB keep crumbling and rising with a vengeance. The doctor/patient paradigm is a forever shifting perspective in this captivatingly killer of a play, registering complete until the climax, which feels sharp but not fully formulated in its finale. With screams into the dark making more sense with each reveal and wrap-around, Max Wolf Friedlich’s JOB leaves us electrically off-balance, wondering and wanting maybe a bit more reversal of fortune in those last few moments. But we are completely fired up as we make our way out at the end of this complex and captivating ‘session’. Feeling and believing in something both personal and profound.
