by Tony Annicone
Burbage Theatre Company’s alternating winter show is “This is Our Youth”, by Kenneth Lonergan who also wrote the Academy Award winning “Manchester by the Sea” in 2016. It was his first play written in 1996 and is about two disillusioned 1980’s upper West Side kids. Their parents went from have nothing liberals to financial have-it-alls with troubled family relationships and examines the lives of three post adolescents. It’s about two days in 1982, two years after Reagan became president. It is a play about relationships, the battles of youth and contains three characters with the focus on 21 year old Dennis and 19 year old Warren. Both are college drop outs and troubled sons whose fathers are financially successful but aren’t successful in their marriages. Dennis is a small time drug dealer and very manipulative while Warren is more sympathetic after being thrown out of his house by his abusive father. It hasn’t been a home for Warren since a tragedy nine years ago and he brings toys of the past with him in his suitcase as a reminder of happier times. The third cast member, Jessica remains in college and has some of the funniest lines in the play as she brings Warren out of his sexual draught he’s had for a long time. Allison Crews mines the layers of this show adeptly presenting a beautiful balance between comedy and the hidden pathos lurking underneath the pot smoking adolescents of the past.
She casts the three roles splendidly and obtains the best from each of them. Leading the cast as the seedy, volatile and aggressive Dennis is James Lucey who runs roughshod over his friend. His smart aleck character is excellently played especially impressive is James’ meltdown in the second act with the death of Stewie, the belittling behavior of his mother towards his father and his own aggressive behavior towards Warren and his girlfriend. Warren is excellently played by Brooks Shatraw whose character is very comic and awkward in Act 1 but however in Act 2, captures the inner pathos that captures the hearts of the audience at his tragic revelation from his past. Brooks delivers a terrific debut performance with Burbage, remaining onstage almost the entire show. Jessica is well played by Cassidy McCartan who has the best one liners in the show. She has some dramatic moments in Act 2 where she regrets her intimacy with Warren. So for a look at how adolescents grew out of bad habits of the past and hopefully into more productive lives in the long run by learning from their past mistakes, be sure to catch “This Is Our Youth” at Burbage Theatre Company to witness fine honed performances that can be savored all night long.
THIS IS OUR YOUTH (26 January to 24 February)
Burbage Theatre Company, 249 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket, RI
1(401)484-0355 or www.burbagetheatre.org
