May 17, 2012

LONELY, I’M NOT

Lonely, they definitely are! Porter (Topher Grace: Traffic, Spider-Man 3, In Good Company, “That 70’s Show”) who once earned seven figures as a “corporate ninja,” is now a stay-at-home divorced guy recovering from a breakdown. It’s been four years since he’s been employed. The only constants in his life are: the morning latte that he shows at Starbucks for too early for the clerk to let him in, his money-grabbing jailbird dad, and the vamp who divorced him, his recurrent nightmares about having to take care of his dying mother, and crying spells during sex. Still, he decides to give life another chance. On a blind date, he meets a blind woman, Heather, (played by Olivia Thirlby) a workaholic who was so done in by her last relationship that she’s glad to have Porter, even though he’s so depressed that he lies, face-down, on his floor.

The playwright Paul Weitz (Trust) wrote this dialogue in funny and bitter sound bytes. the sets in neon letters spelling out “Breakfast,” “Dad,” “Loud,” “Woof…”. In one wonderfully inventive scene when Porter is facing his father in profile, we see a close-up of the front of his face simultaneously projected on a screen in black and white.

Topher Grace had quite a following in the theater and I could see why. His deadpan, poignant delivery of his lines thrilled viewers who had no idea who he was before—like moi!

Will Porter and Heather ever make time for a life together? Not during this 90 minute

production, but you’ll have to decide whether there’s hope for them when the lights go out on

this quirky, hypermodern play.

Playing through June 3rd, the performance schedule is:

Tuesdays 7pm | Wednesdays 2pm Wednesdays 8pm |

Thursdays 8pm| Fridays 8pm| Saturdays 2pm & 8pm

Three Ways to Buy: ONLINE: Visit www.2ST.com; PHONE: Call 212.246.4422; IN PERSON: Visit the 2econd Stage Theatre box office- 305 West 43^rd Street

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.2ST.com