Steppenwolf bring us this new production of Kenneth Lonergan's 1996 play, set in 1982 New York City. Under the highly skilled direction of Anna D Shapiro, the young but experienced cast of Keiran Culkin, Michael Cera, and Tavi Gevinson bring these arguably troubled young characters to life beautifully. Staged in traverse, the audience have differing perspectives; from my seat I could see into the bathroom, and watch along with Culkin as he saw old TV programs, whereas the other side likely saw beautiful detail I could not. Shapiro's staging had beautiful movement; choreographed, clearly, and yet giving the feeling of being organic - as if we were peering in on this apartment where the walls had somehow fallen down. The detail in the set design supported this, showing a mess of cords behind the hifi, as you would find in most homes.
The play, which could feel dated, does not. These youth, raised to expect everything but living stilted by the weight of this expectation, are not unlike countless you will find today. Lonergan says in the program notes that he doesn't feel different about the play, and I don't think we should either. These are our youth, our future; This Is Our Youth remains an alarming and necessary piece of theatre.
It is interesting to see audiences anticipate their own reception of an actor. Although the play has funny moments in the absurd friendship of these 3, Cera's trademark awkwardness got more laughs than the script might warrant (and than his performance deserved). His performance was at first stilted; the early scenes opposite Culkin felt careful, measured, however he relaxed into the scenes with Gevinson and this is where he began to shine.
Gevinson, known primarily for her fashion blogging, although she's been making forays into acting, was sweet and very believable as Jessica. My only real qualm was her vocal work, which lacked support.
Keiran Culkin's performance, however, was outstanding. He's played the role before (on the West End) and finds beautiful subtlety in the seemingly manic shifts of his character, Dennis. A character which I have seen come across as a cliche rich kid turned bad boy was nuanced and heartfelt.
This production is bound for New York later this year, and I'll be curious to see how it develops for Gevinson and Cera - Culkin at this time is in a league of his own among this cast.
The play, which could feel dated, does not. These youth, raised to expect everything but living stilted by the weight of this expectation, are not unlike countless you will find today. Lonergan says in the program notes that he doesn't feel different about the play, and I don't think we should either. These are our youth, our future; This Is Our Youth remains an alarming and necessary piece of theatre.
It is interesting to see audiences anticipate their own reception of an actor. Although the play has funny moments in the absurd friendship of these 3, Cera's trademark awkwardness got more laughs than the script might warrant (and than his performance deserved). His performance was at first stilted; the early scenes opposite Culkin felt careful, measured, however he relaxed into the scenes with Gevinson and this is where he began to shine.
Gevinson, known primarily for her fashion blogging, although she's been making forays into acting, was sweet and very believable as Jessica. My only real qualm was her vocal work, which lacked support.
Keiran Culkin's performance, however, was outstanding. He's played the role before (on the West End) and finds beautiful subtlety in the seemingly manic shifts of his character, Dennis. A character which I have seen come across as a cliche rich kid turned bad boy was nuanced and heartfelt.
This production is bound for New York later this year, and I'll be curious to see how it develops for Gevinson and Cera - Culkin at this time is in a league of his own among this cast.