• Presented by Phil Cameron, Clare Lawrence and Anna Waterhouse, in association with Amanda Mackey Johnson for ABC Productions
• Director: Laurence Boswell
• Set Designer: Jeremy Herbert
• Costume Design: Iona Kenrick
• Playwright: Kenneth Lonergan
• Genre: Drama
• Date: March 15, 2002 to April 20, 2002
• Venue: Garrick Theatre, London
• Runtime: 2 hours and 20 minutes with 1 interval
This Is Our Youth examines the lives of three post-adolescents. The action spans two days in 1982, two years after Ronald Reagan became president. The cast consists of three characters, with the focus on 21-year-old Dennis and 19-year-old Warren. Both troubled sons of fathers with successful careers but unsuccessful marriages. Both are college dropouts trapped on the bridge that separates adolescence from adulthood. Dennis is a drug dealer, obviously small-time since his artist father and social worker mother still pay for his grungy studio. Warren is the more needy and sympathetic of the two, a sort of updated Holden Caulfield, though not quite as bright. The play’s dramatic action is precipitated when Warren seeks refuge with his friend after his often abusive father has thrown him out of the Central Park West house that hasn’t been a real home since a family tragedy nine years earlier. Dennis is the kind of friend who typifies the cliche “with friends like that you don’t need enemies.” Warren’s suitcase is filled not with clothes but with treasured mementos of old toys that represent happier days. That collection becomes something of a third symbolic character as the play moves towards its climax.
From the Gallery
Cast Highlights
• Anna Paquin … Jessica
• Hayden Christensen … Dennis
• Michelle Gomez … Fiona
Trivia
- ‘This Is Our Youth’ marked Jake Gyllenhaal’s stage debut.
