This Is Our Youth

‘Too often, when we see young people on a stage or screen, we get the impression that the writer doesn’t remember what it was like to be young,’ states director George Jankovic, ‘Lonergan does remember – all too clearly – and for better or worse, he has chosen to omit nothing, even the ugly parts…there is a lot of truth in the ugly parts.’ Whilst Jankovic’s conceit may be debateable, particularly writers not remembering ‘what it was like to be young’, nonetheless, he is correct in Kenneth Lonergan’s capturing the voice of youth – of a particular time and place.

Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth is a wonderful, insightful, and poignant insight into a unique age group – late-teens/early 20s upper middle class New Yorkers in 1982. Lonergan’s play was written and first performed in New York in 1996. It subsequently has regularly been performed throughout the world. Now – there is this new 2022 production, energetically staged and performed by the student society – University of Adelaide Theatre Guild.

Dennis Zeigler (Conor Duncan), the son of highly successful parents, is in his Upper Westside apartment, when his friend, Warren Staub (Liam Warmeant), also from a successful and affluent family, buzzes and then bursts into the apartment. Warren has stolen $15,000 cash from his father. He has come to Dennis for help. The journey to the final resolution involves heated arguments, drug dealing, comedy, romance, and death – particularly the death of innocence.

George Jankovic’s production is energetic and clear. From the moment the play began, the three young student actors Conor Duncan (Dennis Zeigler), Liam Warmeant (Warren Stroub), and Anastasia Harraled (Jessica Goldman) held the audience’s attention with their passionate commitment. They honoured the intention of the playwright, which, as the New York Times theatre critic, Peter Marks, wrote in 1996, ‘It is not easy to find love and humour in the middle of nowhere. But….even nowhere can be special.’

These three characters are caught in a void, in which, despite being well-educated and coming from wealthy families, their actions are driven by a lack of self-worth. It is perhaps this issue that lifts This Is Our Youth out of teenage angst drama into something more universal. How do we measure our own self-worth?

In a production full of many highlights, the final speech by the distraught and overwhelmed Dennis is the emotional climax of the play. It is here we learn of temperamental Dennis’ own inner pain and alienation from family and friends, and sense of worthlessness. It is a very long speech and a considerable acting challenge for anyone playing Dennis. Conor Duncan rose the occasion beautifully, capturing the vulnerability of the usually pugnacious Dennis. It was very moving.

Tony Knight