Good morning, and welcome to Broadway News’ Broadway Review by Brittani Samuel — our overview of reactions, recommendations and information tied to last night’s Broadway opening of “Job.”
RUNDOWN
“Job” deceives us before any character releases a breath. Before the play officially begins and we’re plunged into the world of paranoid Jane (Sydney Lemmon), her assigned crisis therapist Loyd (Peter Friedman) and their warring neuroses, we spend a moment in Loyd’s cozy office (designed by Scott Penner). Rattan accents, wooden furnishings and the most ambient lighting (by Mextly Couzin) create an organic, mollifying atmosphere — but it’s hardly safe. There are dangers nestled in this office: Some are clearly visible, others lurk beneath the surface.
Playwright Max Wolf Friedlich’s intimate, darkly comedic two-hander follows Jane and Loyd shortly after a video of Jane’s nervous breakdown at her job goes viral. Lemmon’s portrayal is not a musical performance, but it is full of the push and pull that makes a great one. She knows just when to exhibit masterful restraint and when to lash out like a viper. You can practically see the cloud of distress that follows her around, though it rarely blurs her opinion on the matters she debates with Loyd. And while Jane is anxious and erratic, she’s rarely wrong. Part of why Jane knows so much is because she’s seen even more.
