| My review of THIS IS OUR YOUTH: Playwright Kenneth Lonergan and cast make Bway debuts | |
| Posted by: | jesse21 09:19 am EDT 09/11/14 |
|
| |
| - That awkward period between adolescence and adulthood is fully captured in Ana D. Shapiro’s revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s highly-regarded Gen X play of 1996: This Is Our Youth. Mr. Lonergan, a native New Yorker, set “Youth” in 1982, the year he turned twenty, which helps explain why the verisimilitude of his play and its similarly-aged characters is so dramatically potent. He and the play are making their Broadway debuts tonight at the Cort Theatre. The action takes place in the Upper West Side brownstone studio apartment of Dennis Ziegler (Kieran Culkin) for which his affluent parents willingly pay the rent to keep him at arm’s length. He earns spending money dealing drugs to his circle of acquaintances. Dennis is a fast talker and a smooth operator, but he is also directionless. In comes buddy Warren Straub (Michael Cera) who is the polar opposite: fumbling and withdrawn, a pre computer-age nerd. He, on the other hand, lives unhappily at home with his divorced father, perhaps a shady businessman, and has just stolen dad’s briefcase containing $15,000 in cash. The play’s action humorously revolves around how the cash can be (or should not be) spent. But the quality of Mr. Lonergan’s play rests in his acutely observed characters and the manner in which two opposites are drawn to each other in wishing they shared certain of the other guy’s attributes. Also, the playwright slowly reveals where his privileged youth are coming from: how they are the product of homes where the successful careers of their parents shortchanged their upbringing and, even more so, how intimidating has been their fathers’ successes. If you’ve experienced the particular Manhattan milieu of the play, you’ll especially appreciate how spot on is the writing. The trappings of the early 1980s are there (vinyl records and bulky stereo equipment) as is the suggestion of a partially seedy and a bit dangerous New York. The play may not be the cautionary eye-opener for parents that it once was in its two previous Off Broadway productions. Yet the characters could exist similarly in today’s urban environment and, because of that, This Is Our Youth retains a topical interest. Will these youth have an epiphany that will move them beyond drugs, sex and aimlessness? Ah, that I won’t reveal. Director Shapiro, Tony winner for August: Osage County and director of last season’s successful Of Mice and Men revival, has elicited strong performances from three young actors making their Broadway debuts. Her staging was seen earlier this summer at Steppenwolf in Chicago. Kieran Culkin as the gregarious Dennis is the actor who has had extensive stage experience in general and particularly with this play beginning with a London production in 2002. That has paid off. His is a superb performance in which pain and uncertainly underline the bravado. Michael Cera, with the largest role as the timid Warren, is well cast or one might say type cast based on his film career to date. He does exude vulnerability and confusion as he provides a convincing foil to Mr. Culkin’s more robust performance. However, his Warren is much in the same manner as his hangdog portrayal of other characters on screen which leads one to suspect his range. This is not a two-hander though. There’s a young woman in a smaller role named Jessica, a pretty blond Warren has been eyeing but is too shy to ask on a date. Circumstances in the plot bring them together this time around. As Jessica, Tavi Gevinson, the fashion blogger, model and now novice actress, is directed very carefully by Ms. Shapiro, and she appears to be a natural at conveying conflicted emotions as she tries to break from her mother’s clutches into adulthood. This Is Our Youth is well worth a visit, especially for those who never saw the original production back in the 1990s. ★ ★ ★½ ☆ ☆ - Jesse SIDEBAR: “THIS IS OUR YOUTH” opens Thursday, September 11, 2014, at the Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th Street, New York City. Seen at a preview on Sept. 7. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. On 9/7, started 3:08pm; ended 5:32pm. Act I: 1 hour, 11 minutes; Act II: 55 minutes. Limited engagement. Tickets currently on sale through January 4, 2015. Link to website. - | |
| reply | | |
| Previous: | re: Sweeney Todd in Boston - vss2105 02:25 pm EDT 09/11/14 |
| Next: | The first 9/11 opening night on B'way in a while? - Delvino 09:25 pm EDT 09/11/14 |
| Thread: |
|
All That Chat is intended for the discussion of
theatre news and opinion
subject to the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. (Please take all off-topic discussion to private email.)
Please direct technical questions/comments to webmaster@talkinbroadway.com and policy questions to TBAdmin@talkinbroadway.com.
[ Home | On the Rialto | The Siegel Column | Cabaret | Tony Awards | Book Reviews | Great White Wayback Machine ]
[ Broadway Reviews | Barbara and Scott: The Two of Clubs | Sound Advice | Restaurant Revue | Off Broadway | Funding Talkin' Broadway ]
[ Broadway 101 | Spotlight On | Talkin' Broadway | On the Boards | Regional | Talk to Us! | Search Talkin' Broadway ]
Terms of Service
[ © 1997 - 2014 www.TalkinBroadway.com, Inc. ]
Time to render: 0.001931 seconds.