The Way We Get By

The Way We Get By

Second Stage Theatre

Tony Kiser Theatre

June 13, 2015

Photo courtesy of Playbill &
Second Stage Theatre

I was very excited to be seated in the second row center to see Amanda Seyfried in The Way We Get By.  I opened my program and there it was.  The dreaded insert.  “At this performance the role of Beth will be played by Clea Alsip.”  The curse of the matinee performance.  I was disconcerted, hostile, furious.  Should I march to the box office and scream, “Refund!” and demand my TDF discount ticket price back?  “Wait,” I thought, “This is a NeilLaBute play at Second Stage Theatre.  I know it is going to be good.”  And it was!

The play was a roller coaster ride of emotion as Doug (Thomas Sadoski) wakes up in the middle of the night in the apartment of Beth, a girl he hooked up with (Clea Aslip… who delivered an excellent performance).  He is agitated and paces uncomfortably in his boxer shorts, and downs a bottle of smartwater.  The awkwardness accelerates when Beth enters from the bedroom wearing his vintage autographed Star Wars tee shirt, wondering why he left her alone in bed.  The one night stand banter plays back and forth until Doug hits an emotional wall.  Playwright Neil LaBute skillfully approaches and retreats from this wall throughout the play as Doug and Beth’s history is excruciatingly revealed.  Director Leigh Silverman intrigues the audience by building and releasing the tension between the two characters right up to the very end of the play.

Thomas Sadoski & Amanda Seyfried
in The Way We Get By
Photo courtesy of Second Stage Theatre

Scenic designer, Neil Patel clearly shopped at IKEA for every piece of furniture and knick knack on the set.  This might sound like a critical put down, but it is not.  He created the “perfect” setting for Doug and Beth’s coming together and facing their deepest fear.  The neat and orderly Manhattan condo with everything geometrically matching and in its place is an ideal backdrop for a rebellion against the norm.

Toward the end of the play, Doug says that the way people get by is to run and hide from what they want when they fear they cannot have it.  Neil LaBute takes us on a journey into the freedom that comes when you make a decision that is right for you regardless of what people will say, tweet, or politicize.

Clea Alsip
Photo courtesy of broadwayworld.com

I am still disappointed that I did not see Amanda Seyfried, especially from the second row.  I did, however, leave the theatre feeling elated from the cathartic experience of an extremely well written, directed, and performed work of theatre.

Domenick Danza