Job, at Red Stitch Actors' Theatre - 75 minutes

A gripping psychological thriller, Job pits a patient against a psychiatrist in a battle of wits and wills.

Jane (Jessica Clarke), who is a content moderator in Big Tech, is on paid sick leave following a mental breakdown.

Video recorded of the incident went viral, but now she is desperate to get back to work.

Photos by Sarah Walker

That won’t happen without the say so of the psych, Loyd (Darren Gilshenan), appointed by her firm.

A highly anxious Jane hardly makes a favourable first impression.

That is because she has the therapist cowering in fear when she bursts into his room with a loaded gun in her hand, which she points directly at him.

She holds him hostage, while he tries to calm her down, trying to understand what led to this explosive situation.

Thereafter starts an electrifying to and fro, with Jane prone to outbursts and she frequently questioning him, almost as much as he her.

We gradually get an understanding of both their back stories.

She is an only child from a middle-class family whose parents are not together.

She resents her father and maintains that an incident with a former college boyfriend she hadn’t seen in many years triggered her collapse.

He is a four-decade veteran of his profession, a divorced father of two – a girl and a boy – who likes making jewellery in his spare time.

He questions whether the job Jane so desperately covets is doing her more harm than good.

The screws tighten, power shifts and before this is over there will be a shocking twist.

Written by American playwright Max Wolf Friedlich, the Australian premiere of Job follows its acclaimed Broadway season debut in July 2024.

Punctuated with humour, it is dramatic, alarming, provocative, oh so compelling and brilliantly executed – one of Red Stitch’s finest works.

Not for naught is Jessica Clarke one of my favourite actors. She inhabits her characters as if her life depended on it. Such was the case with the equally absorbing Red Stitch play Iphigenia in Splott, which I saw twice. It is no different this time around.

She is edgy, intense, threatening, passionate and word perfect as Jane. As a litany of verbiage cascades from her lips, she is a powder keg.

Darren Gilshenan shows commendable restraint as Loyd, trying his best to rationalise just what is going down.

He is the good listener, the hallmark of a decent therapist, asking pointed questions when necessary, trying to talk her away from the precipice. Mind you, he can fire up too.

I was taken by both Clarke and Gilshenan’s body movements and non-verbal cues, which add considerably to the authenticity they bring to their respective roles.

The sound and lighting design add much to the tension inherent in this production.

Composer Daniel Nixon’s loud sound stings and David Parker’s curt lighting vignettes are striking features of the piece.

Also impressive is Jacob Battista’s evocative set design (he is also responsible for costuming).

Dark curtaining surrounds the therapist’s office, generating a closed in feeling.  

Director Nadia Tass tightly controls proceedings, ensuring the unease so heavily invested in the offering never lets up.

Stress level high. Job done, one well worth investing in.

It is on at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre until 12^th October, 2025.