Job – Review of 2025 Coal Mine Theatre Production

Job, the three-letter title of Max Wolf Friedrich’s play is not helpful. Initially I thought it would be a play about the much abused and suffering Job of the Old Testament. Then I realized it refers to what people do for a living but that was not very helpful. It is about two people who earn their daily bread one as a therapist and the other as an employee at an unnamed tech company where she watches and vets nightmarish posts.
Jane (Charlotte Dennis) has had a meltdown and a video of her screaming and screeching has gone viral. She has been put on leave and will be able to continue working if she ca get a doctor’s letter confirming that she can do her job.
Lloyd (Diego Matamoros) is one of the best therapists around and she consults him to get the letter that she needs. Note, he is not a psychiatrist. The two-hander play lasts 80 minutes and we are treated to extensive information about the patient and the therapist, The piece does veer into minor longueurs but by the end we are sitting on the edge of our seats with our jaws dropping to the ground. We have witnessed outstanding acting and a plot that may have fooled us completely. The word “thriller” may be used to describe the play but that makes it sound like an ordinary whodunnit and this play is much, much more than that.
Jane is a deeply troubled young woman whose description of the posts that she has witnessed on social media are too horrible to describe let alone being exposed to them daily. She is young and attractive but has had a checkered background and is quite passionate about everything.
Lloyd is a calm, urbane and methodical therapist who needs to decide if he can recommend that Jana can resume her job. He discloses that he is separated from his wife with whom he had two children, a son, and a daughter who committed suicide at age thirteen.
In the opening scene in the therapist’s office, Jane is holding a gun to the doctor and the lights go off momentarily and we hear a bang. No, she does not shoot the therapist and she eventually puts the gun in her purse. We are not sure if we are watching a therapy session or a holdup but the calm and professional therapist seems to control the situation as he digs deep into Jane’s past and her recent breakdown. This is a clearly troubled woman and he tries to get to the bottom of her trouble to decide if she is she is sufficiently recovered to return to her job.
I do not want to give any further information and spoil the plot. Suffice it to say that once you have seen the play you will not soon forget the plot and will go over its details with fascination, disbelief and shock.
Jane and Lloyd represent two generations. He is a product of the sixties and she is product of social media generation. You may find their approaches interesting.
The entire action takes place in a modestly furnished office and the drama is accentuated in the small theatre-in-the-round Coal Mine Theatre. Nick Blais is the set designer.
There is extensive use of lighting by designer Wesley Babcock and sound by designer Michael Wanless. There are moments when lights flash on and off and sounds are heard. You may wish to decide what they indicate when you see the play or when you think about it afterwards.
Charlotte Dennis gives a powerful performance as a complex but troubled young woman who has seen humanity at its most depraved. A bravura performance that demands stamina, ability and just plain talent.
Matamoros is a veteran of Toronto theatre and not only. He gives a superb, nuanced performance as a complex man and therapist. He draws us into complacency. Outstanding work.
David Ferry directs the complex plot with superb control. It needs perfect timing and control of the detailed development and emotional wavelength of the play. Superb directing.
It is theatre at its best.
Job by Max Wolf Friedrich continues until May 18, 2025, at the Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Ave. Toronto, (northwest corner of Woodbine and Danforth).
www.coalminetheatre.com/

Diego Matamoros and Charlotte Dennis in Job. Photo: ElanaEmer

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