Tough to find meaning in Unicorn Theater’s ‘The Way We Get By’

When you hear that a play is by Neil LaBute, you have certain expectations. “The Way We Get By,” which opened Saturday night at Unicorn Theater, doesn’t meet them. That’s not necessarily bad. LaBute is famous for nastiness and dark surprises. “The Way We Get By,” though, isn’t mean at all. It’s sweet, in a dithering way, if curiously underwhelming. Your opinion of it will depend entirely on how much you enjoy or, at least tolerate, romantic comedies.

We begin with Doug (Matthew Schmidli) emerging in boxer shorts after a one-night stand. Beth (Molly Denninghoff) soon follows, wearing nothing but a “Star Wars” T-shirt. The pair then starts a stereotypically fitful millennial mating dance. For the next hour or so, they negotiate, argue, flirt, chatter and banter, never leaving the New York City apartment (beautifully designed by Bret Engle) that Beth shares with Kim, her absent and overbearing roommate. At times, they make out a bit, then stop and prattle more. Through it all, Doug continually refuses to hop back in bed with this sexy young thing – going so far as to lift Beth from her knees to stop an act that most men enjoy. Eventually, and I do mean eventually, we learn that Doug wants more than just a one-night stand. How, exactly, having more sex would hinder that goal isn’t clear, despite his lengthy explanation, but that’s just one of play’s frustrating moments.

Another is nearly an hour into the 70-minute show, when LaBute finally reveals their true obstacle to love. This revelation, which sounds taboo at first, turns out to be something of a dud. It’s possible, of course, that this is intentional. LaBute is using anticlimax to confound our expectations of him, like M. Night Shyamalan making a film with no twist ending. But the moment still feels like a cheat.

The actors, at the risk of damning with faint praise, were fine – despite a lack of chemistry. Schmidli never seemed to know what to do with his body, but we can chalk that up to a character who was supposed to be uncomfortable. Denninghoff was flirty and vulnerable, if sometimes a bit stilted during delivery of the faster-paced dialogue. Neither, frankly, was terribly compelling, but both were serviceable and should get better as the production evolves.

The problem is the play itself. A conventional rom-com can be forgiven. What can’t be forgiven is a rom-com where the characters don’t make us care. LaBute, absent his usual brutality, just doesn’t have much to say here. Other than a strong speech by Beth about the burdens of beauty, these two basically just yak for an hour about duct tape and American Apparel. When we finally get to an underlying theme – that love is hard and scary – it seems like a long trip to an obvious truth.

The romantic gesture that ends the play is similarly sweet but shallow. Following a symbolic Oedipal act – verbally trashing Doug’s dad – the two leave together – but not before they also trash bossy Kim’s apartment. It all feels rather childish, and maybe that’s the point – that millennial adults seem to act like children. At the very least, one hopes, a point exists. LaBute is a fine writer with a deep understanding of the dark side of human nature. The trusting theatergoer is therefore willing to dig deep dig in this play for meaning. This particular theatergoer, though, hasn’t found it yet.

This story was originally published October 23, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Tough to find meaning in Unicorn Theater’s ‘The Way We Get By’."