No one makes depression as attractive as Topher Grace. In “Lonely, I’m Not,” the former star of TV’s “That ’70s Show” manages to make abject misery seem the only rational way to see the world.
Add Olivia Thirlby (“Juno,” “Bored to Death”) as a sexy blind business analyst so independent and self-possessed that she angrily refuses any and all help, and you’ve got a winning team in Paul Weitz’s dark comedy, receiving its world premiere at the Second Stage Theatre.
The play concerns the burgeoning romance between Grace’s Porter — a divorced former master of the universe who suffered a mental breakdown — and Thirlby’s Heather, so desperate to rise to the corporate top that she toils seven days a week for an underappreciative boss.
Porter’s sad mental state is established as soon as we first see him, on his couch, forlornly eating Froot Loops straight from the box. Soon after, he has a dust-up with a barista who refuses to open early to serve him a much-needed latte.
In the next scene, as Porter flounders through an interview for a grade-school teaching job, he explains his fondness for children by saying, “I like the fact that they, you know, haven’t been completely destroyed yet.”
After the couple meets on a blind date — the comic irony is duly noted — they fumble their way into a relationship rife with obstacles, including Porter’s disastrous meeting with Heather’s mother (Lisa Emery).
When the comedy turns serious, it’s less successful. The scenes in which Porter’s irresponsible father (Mark Blum) hits him up for money for his shady business deals feel contrived, almost as if they’re from another play.
“Lonely, I’m Not” is hardly the definitive portrait of youthful angst — Weitz made his bones with movies like “American Pie” — but its sharp, off-kilter humor makes up for its lack of depth. A big plus is Trip Cullman’s inventive staging, which includes giant illuminated words prefacing key scenes (“Opportunity,” “Decisions,” “Kicking Ass”) and such clever touches as supertitles during a loud concert scene.
In his theater debut, Grace is so appealing you root for Porter, as you do Thirlby’s Heather. The reliable Blum and Emery turn in terrific performances, as do Christopher Jackson and Maureen Sebastian in multiple roles, notably Sebastian’s turn as Heather’s overly eager-to-please roommate and Porter’s sexually voracious ex-wife.
If it’s true that misery loves company, “Lonely, I’m Not” should find plenty of appreciative audiences.