Call it a case of criminal mindlessness: Two boys, from privileged backgrounds but claiming poverty, get lost not in Yonkers, but in their own petty drama.
“You’re so independent?” asks adolescent slacker Warren, surveying buddy Dennis’s untidy, stark apartment.
“Yeah, because my parents pay for this apartment,” twenty-something small-time drug dealer Dennis replies, wholly believing his superiority.
“This is Our Youth,” now playing at Steppenwolf Theatre, follows three lost adolescents in 1982 New York City as they navigate 48 hours of petty theft, heartache and loss. There’s Warren, a dejected lost boy who, in a moment of true spontaneity, seeks revenge on his lingerie-tycoon father by stealing $15,000; his friend, amateur drug dealer Dennis, who seeks to spend much of the money on revelry (and cocaine); and naïve, argumentative fashion student Jessica, who Warren hopes to bed.
And so it goes. In a tale trapped in the past but still reminiscent of recent times, rich opportunists-now-tragic slackers lament the timeless naggings of youth: lack of recreational funding, familial strife, romantic foibles. Dennis is oft despicable, an aggravated megalomaniac with flashes of self-obsessed vulnerability, the archetype of the slick-haired, fast-talking pseudo-yuppie. Warren, the quieter, meeker of the two, is the other, painfully self-aware and constantly a bundle of nerves. From the start, there’s the sense these two are brothers or best friends or both: one running from an abusive father, the other barely escaping a negligent one. There’s little plot but ample dialogue, clever, shrewd and ably delivered by the production’s male leads.
The cast of Steppenwolf’s revival of Kenneth Longeran’s 1996 play truly deserves great credit.Kieran Culkin, younger brother to Macaulay, plays Dennis so detestably that his late-act emotional pitfall feels like catharsis for the audience too. His each move is a deliberate act, and his eyes betray the brazenness of his bombastic monologues.
Better still is Michael Cera, who serves as uncharacteristic poster boy for a whole generation of disaffected youth; as Warren, Cera deftly alternates between abashed and impassioned, and his penchant for physical comedy solicits more than a few hearty laughs. His vulnerability is immensely likeable, and his confident stage presence lessens the sheen of his celebrity.
Tavi Gevinson’s performance as Jessica is less polished, the work of a novice still growing accustomed to the spotlight. At 18, the young ingénue feels like a stunt casting; as founder and editor-in-chief of teen fashion blog, Rookie, Gevinson, who just graduated from high school in Oak Park, garnered significant media attention. She appeared in last year’s “Enough Said” and on the fifth season finale of NBC’s “Parenthood,” but “This is Our Youth” is her first attempt at stage acting. In action, Gevinson bares more than a passing resemblance to Scarlett Johansson, but whereas Johansson has a distinct, revered voice quality, Gevinson’s is grating, verging on high-pitched hysteria. Where Culkin and Cera are fraternal and adorable, throwing Gevinson in the mix becomes tiresome. Gevinson’s greenness is most notable in her solo scenes with Cera; in juxtaposition with a character as defined as Warren, Jessica comes off as one-dimensional.
Steppenwolf ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro’s restaging of “This is Our Youth” is a fresh and funny new take on an excellent play. Steppenwolf’s production, staged in the round, is headed to Broadway this fall; with a little guidance from her seasoned peers, perhaps Gevinson can transform Jessica from a meek afterthought to as commanding a character as Warren or Dennis for her New York stage debut. This complex character study is worth the effort —and the audience’s time.
“This is Our Youth” runs through July 27 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. For tickets ($20-82) and more information, visit the theatre’s websiteor call Audience Services at 312-335-1650.
Photo: (left to right) Warren (Michael Cera) and Dennis (Kieran Culkin) discuss a potential business deal in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan. This Is Our Youth runs June 10 – July 27, 2014 in Steppenwolf’s Upstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted St). (Credit: Michael Brosilow)
