"Job"

"Job"

The Hippie and The Tech Bro

"Job" at The Hayes Theater originally played at Soho Rep and then moved to The Connolly Theater on the lower east side before moving to "The Great White Way"; scheduling an end July opening. The show has two characters, Lloyd (Peter Friedman) and Jane (Sydney Lemmon), a modest, modern set and a lot of words in this 80 minute play.

"Job" will appeal to various theater goers... Lloyd, is a hippy psychologist; he believes in the old hippie ways, the psychedelic age of escapism, the by-gone days on Height and Ashbury, a city he still lives in. His patient, Jane, works for an elite tech firm in the Bay Area. She went viral on social media when she went ballistic at work one day and is forced to see Lloyd on her companies orders to evaluate whether she is fit to keep her job.

The play has many comedic lines throughout the play. Jane is both obsessive and compulsive, but it is her constant panic that brings out the most humor here. Being born and raised in the Midwest as an only child "ruined her" she states to her shrink. Writer Max Wolf Friedlich has many corky lines throughout the play and reminiscent at times of a T.V. sitcom, we get a neurotic person who brings ironic comedy to the crowd.

"Job" is not without its problems. The plot can delve a bit. It would have been better if Friedlich had more banter about the hippie 60's versus the tech 2000's. Since both groups have many similarities... the anti establishment beliefs, the Bohemian lifestyles and the disdain for conformity. Instead the writer only danes on this subject. It would have also been a stronger play if it did not jump around on so many vast subjects in such a short running time. Where Peter Friedman turns in a admirable performance, Sydney Lemmon seems like a one note actor, she is very monotone throughout the play and at times, she is difficult to hear. Director Michael Herwitz tries to show Lemmon as a true techie nerd with many different issues about society as well as herself, instead, he has her to subdued and flat. The lighting by Mextly Couzin at times has the actors with a modeled effect on stage and it made it difficult to pick up their faces. The extreme fade-out scenes too are a bit peculiar and often get in the way of the intensity of the play.

"Job", with the some shortcomings is an overall edgy, exotic play with excellent sound by Cody Spenser. While the ending is unique, it is at the same time predictable. The play has many twists and tuns and keeps the audience engrossed with great suspense .The play must be carefully watched because it has little subplots that are barely noticeable to the passive eye. Missing any of the clues that the writer gives us as to where he is taking the play will leave anyone in the last ending moments guessing as to how the play will end. The attentive viewer who picks up the writers inflections should have how the play will end well before it's over!

Afterthought of "Job". The bigger stage does not do "Job" well; the smaller venue of Soho Playhouse as well as the Connolly Theatre works better for this play. It also plays better in an off Broadway setting. "Forbidden Broadway" was supposed to come to The Hayes but was pulled for financial reasons.

"Job", Succession, Broadway, Tony Awards, "Hamilton", Alladin", "Harry Potter", "The Great Gatsby", "Water for Elephants", George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr.