Just got back from this play and I can tell you, you've never seen anything like it. The acting is riveting, even as the payoff is stomach-churning. Oy vey, what a ride. I came to this play as a huge Succession fan. Peter Friedman (Succession's "Frank") is one of the finest actors around. It was a privilege to watch him work. As for Jane, I related to Sidney Lemmon's character a little too much. Her character was extremely well-written and well fleshed-out. She embodies the dread we feel when we have seen, through the internet, behind the curtain and learn too much about the darker, freakier aspects of not just the internet but the evil humans and darkest corners of the world that the internet enables us to connect us to. (Imagine witnessing a rape/murder and then trying to go back to your normal life, having to compartmentalize what you have witnessed and how it corrupts your previously trusting view of the world. Imagine now instead of feeling weirded out by horror, to feel weirded out by casual normalcy and superficiality after witnessing such a trauma.) I sorta hate that the play doesn't have a clear ending, but rather forces us as viewers to determine what was true or false, what the conclusion is or isn't. But that is also what make this play stick with you after the fact, as you churn it over and over in your mind and heart. I dare you to watch these performances and not come away moved, and potentially changed. It's almost a civic duty to watch this play, rather than sidling into the theater as a passive form of entertainment. My companion felt it was too triggering, and felt traumatized by the content of the play. I say to that: Well, pal, then you are living your life on autopilot and are not paying attention to what is going on in the world. And maybe you needed this wake-up call. What we do with the information we are forced to confront is up to us.
Just got back from this play and I can tell you, you've never seen anything like it. The acting is riveting, even as the payoff is stomach-churning. Oy vey, what a ride.
I came to this play as a huge Succession fan. Peter Friedman (Succession's "Frank") is one of the finest actors around. It was a privilege to watch him work. As for Jane, I related to Sidney Lemmon's character a little too much. Her character was extremely well-written and well fleshed-out. She embodies the dread we feel when we have seen, through the internet, behind the curtain and learn too much about the darker, freakier aspects of not just the internet but the evil humans and darkest corners of the world that the internet enables us to connect us to. (Imagine witnessing a rape/murder and then trying to go back to your normal life, having to compartmentalize what you have witnessed and how it corrupts your previously trusting view of the world. Imagine now instead of feeling weirded out by horror, to feel weirded out by casual normalcy and superficiality after witnessing such a trauma.)
I sorta hate that the play doesn't have a clear ending, but rather forces us as viewers to determine what was true or false, what the conclusion is or isn't. But that is also what make this play stick with you after the fact, as you churn it over and over in your mind and heart.
I dare you to watch these performances and not come away moved, and potentially changed.
It's almost a civic duty to watch this play, rather than sidling into the theater as a passive form of entertainment.
My companion felt it was too triggering, and felt traumatized by the content of the play. I say to that: Well, pal, then you are living your life on autopilot and are not paying attention to what is going on in the world. And maybe you needed this wake-up call.
What we do with the information we are forced to confront is up to us.
Thank you so much for your comment! I enjoyed reading your reaction to JOB. It's definitely a very thought provoking play!