“It’s a career highlight,” Charlotte Dennis says without hesitation of her role as Jane in Coal Mine Theatre’s Job.
On stage until May 11, 2025, Job is a taut psychological thriller about the cost of visibility and what it takes to survive when your reputation—and identity—are under siege. Sharp, haunted, complex and layered, Jane is the kind of character that actors wait years – sometimes their whole career for. And for Dennis, stepping into Jane’s mind means wrestling with the muck and mess of the Internet age, our struggles with mental health, and the battle to be seen and believed.
The play follows Jane, a young employee at a major tech firm who is placed on leave after suffering a public breakdown at work—a meltdown that went viral online. Set in the Bay Area on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story opens as Jane enters the office of Loyd, an older crisis therapist (played by theatre titan Diego Matamoros). In a moment of panic and desperation, she pulls a gun—before quickly backing down. Her return to the job hinges on Loyd’s evaluation of her mental fitness. As their session unfolds, she reveals the psychological toll of her work moderating the internet’s most disturbing content, day after day.
What begins as a clinical assessment evolves into a riveting, real-time power struggle between two careerists from clashing generations. “It’s rare for women my age to have the opportunity to play someone so complex, intelligent, wild, and spiky — someone who feels things on an epic scale,” Dennis observes. “Often, roles like this are cast older, or the characters just aren’t as fleshed out.” Dennis’ gratitude—to playwright Max Wolf Friedlich “for writing her”, and to director David Ferry “for taking a chance on me” — is matched only by her awe at the intricacies of the character: “Her rage. Her ability to express herself in pressurized moments (I’m a crier).… And for me, the thing that started my devotion to her was her humour, especially in the darkest moments.”
Even with her deep connection to the material, Dennis admits that navigating the psychological terrain was “a huge undertaking in such a short period of time. Once we arrived in rehearsal, we found that every time we thought we’d unknotted something, four more knots would take its place,” she reveals. Her focus in final tech rehearsals narrowed to the most essential: “[Jane] has so much going on all at once, which can be impossible for an actor to play fully. So… I’m just focusing on specific actions – one moment at a time. Hopefully, that will culminate in the audience experiencing the complexity of her inner world.”
The themes of Job hit especially close to home for Dennis, who came of age when Instagram became “a thing” while she was a high school student. She recalls how “suddenly, my identity became entangled not just with my real-life experiences in the halls, but also with how many ‘followers’ I had, what pictures I posted of my weekend, how many comments I got… Even though it was new, the rules felt unforgiving and very socially tangible.” She sees Jane’s story as an exaggerated but painfully familiar extension of those dynamics – and the experience of playing Jane as a further extension: “I feel anxious, vulnerable, and (on bad days) fearful about the potential judgement of what others may think of my version. That fear can be corrosive to the work itself. When we post on the internet, we open ourselves up to the same kind of scrutiny. Jane has experienced that misunderstanding and judgment too — but in a much deeper, more profound, and more painful way.”
While Dennis does not pursue a strict routine for leaving the role behind each day, she has developed an emotional flexibility that keeps her grounded. “A character seeping into your worldview is, in some ways, inevitable. That’s part of the pleasure of it… But at the end of the day, it’s pretend! I’m not her, and she’s not me.” In this context, acting is a portal: “I get to reach down into the basement of my body and touch feelings we don’t usually allow ourselves to feel day-to-day”. She smiles.“It’s fake! What fun!” At the same time, she credits her support network: “Going to the thrift store and eating a pint of ice cream on a friend’s living room floor — that’s a real salve for the soul sometimes!”
On the stage at the Coal Mine Theatre—a venue known for its immediacy and edge—there is no escaping the intensity of the plot. “It’s so vulnerable to be practically inches from the audience — but it also creates this intimacy that feels very precious,” observes Dennis. “There’s a kind of energy exchange that’s more immediate… I can’t hide from them. And they can’t hide from me.” And set designer Nick Blais has shaped the space to feel like a therapy session unfolding in real time. “The goal is to make people feel like they’re truly in the room. It’s exciting!”
Dennis herself grew up right in the room as her esteemed actor parents Deborah Drakeford and Oliver Dennis plied their craft. From the age of three, she spent large portions of her childhood in theatres and rehearsal halls: “It built a deep devotion to the craft… It’s also all I know, in many ways — the idea of sitting behind a desk feels completely foreign to me.” So acting is in her DNA, but it’s been channelled through rigorous dedication to her craft. Dennis is a graduate of the National Theatre School and was a member of the 2023 Soulpepper Academy. This role marks her debut with a major professional Toronto theatre company – even as she serves as a creative producer at The Vault Creation Lab, founded by Diana Bentley. A sister company to Coal Mine Theatre, The Vault champions experimentation and the full realization of new Canadian theatre through its dedicated support of writers and creators during the critical early stages of development – by offering space, technical resources, and opportunities for audience engagement.
While Dennis’ parents have offered her unconditional support, she admits that she placed heavy expectations on herself early in her career. “I worried that people expected more from me because of who my parents are”. Happily, “the evil tricks my brain played on me were nothing compared to the generosity and intimate understanding of the industry my parents offered me. It’s a gift to be the child of such inspiring artists. Truly, all I do, I do for my parents.” Dennis has even shared the stage with her mother in ARC Theatre’s 2023 production of Marius von Mayenburg’s Martyr. Her luminous turn as alternately vicious and vulnerable student Lydia Weber foretold her ability to take on complex roles like Jane.
And Dennis has high hopes for how audiences will engage with her Jane. “Jane is a challenging person. She’s unafraid of her anger. She’s unafraid of her strength. She vibrates at a hot, high temperature. And we, societally, still scrutinize women like that: women who know what they are and what they want, who are passionate and demanding and confident and wild.” What she wants most is for audiences—especially younger ones—to feel seen. “People of my generation… existing half in the real world and half in one invented by billionaires, designed to make us feel less than so we’ll buy more… I hope they feel witnessed.”
And, she adds with a smile, “It’s a bit of a thriller! So I hope people will be talking about it on the way home.”
JOB runs at Coal Mine Theatre from April 20 to May 11, 2025. Reserve tickets at coalminetheatre.com.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2025
