Luminaries from the worlds of television, stage, and screen join forces in the new comedy TRUST, now enjoying a world premiere run at Second Stage Theatre. Zach Braff, Sutton Foster, Bobby Cannavale and Ari Graynor are a quartet to be reckoned with in the starriest Off-Broadway show of the summer, which, due to popular demand, recently extended its run to September 12.

Ari Graynor, Zach Braff and Bobby Cannavale. Photo by Joan Marcus.

TRUST explores the power plays in relationships and sex – dominance and submission – in both physical and psychological terms. On one hand, you’ve got Harry and Aleeza (Braff and Graynor). He’s a retired millionaire who now runs a philanthropy, and she’s a painter who hasn’t touched a canvas in ages despite her husband’s encouragement. And on the other hand, there’s Prudence (Foster), who considers her unorthodox career a branch of psychology, and Morton (Cannavale), a Mensa-certified slacker with a penchant for blackmail.

These two couples find their lives inextricably bound when Harry visits an S&M club. He can’t quite put his finger on the motivation for his visit – he says he’s “happily married,” after all, to a wife who calls him “so good.” Harry is the type of guy who, when tied up and confronted with a leather-clad, whip-wielding dominatrix, might ask “did you go to Stuyvesant High School?”

The script by Paul Weitz (Oscar nominee for About a Boy) is, on the surface, a cousin of those quippish TV shows about goofy guys and their grounded wives. Like much of TRUST, though, appearances are deceiving as the comedic rhythms gradually give way to darker themes. Alexander Dodge’s sleekly versatile set plays into this concept as well, with walls and panels gliding, descending, and opening to reveal a dozen different locations.

Sutton Foster puts Zach Braff in a compromising position. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Making a 180-degree departure from her spunky performances in Broadway musicals like Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Drowsy Chaperone, Sutton Foster is fascinatingly enigmatic as Prudence, a complicated woman with a raft of secrets, who has more in common with Ari Graynor’s shrewish Aleeza than might be supposed. Likewise, Bobby Cannavale’s slimy, opportunistic (but irresistibly sexy) Morton is the yin to the sweetness of Zach Braff’s ostensibly sweet yang as Harry.

Braff, best known to television audiences from his eight-year stint as the star of “Scrubs,” has appeared only twice onstage according to his Playbill bio (both times in Shakespeare productions at The Public), but easily commands the stage with his easy-going charm and gawkiness. He’s eminently likable and is naturally funny, which makes his character’s moral developments all the more fascinating. Braff is a true natural onstage - may he return to New York stages sooner rather than later!

Performance schedule for TRUST is Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm, Sundays at 3pm. Tickets may be purchased via www.2st.com or in person at Second Stage Theatre, 305 West 43rd St. Prices: $70, $63 (senior), $56 (box), $30 (youth advance), $15 (student rush).