Ben
Brantley

May 19, 2015

Anyone who’s ever woken up in a strange apartment with an unexpected bedmate and a deathly hangover will appreciate the brute fear that pervades the first moments of “The Way We Get By,” a slight but spirited new play by Neil LaBute, which opened on Tuesday night at Second Stage Theater. It’s not just the pained walk of that man in his boxer shorts (Thomas Sadoski), lumbering across the stage like a zombie in search of brains, that commands instant pity and terror. So does the what-the-hell-have-I-done expression plastered on his face like a “Wanted” sign, and the subtle, ominous hum (the throb of conscience or merely traffic in the distance?) that underscores every step he takes. Since this is a work by Mr. LaBute, who as a filmmaker and dramatist loves to play nasty games in the dark, we are prepared to assume the worst. Like the presence of a decapitated corpse somewhere on the premises, or an old troll with a satisfied leer waiting under stained sheets. Surprise! The only thing lurking in the other room turns out to be a gorgeous woman — played, as it happens, by a gorgeous movie star, Amanda Seyfried, wearing only a “Star Wars” T-shirt. This is no waking nightmare; it’s a red-blooded American boy’s dream come true!