THEATER
This is Our Youth
Presented by Red Turnip Theater
Ongoing until Nov. 22
A Space Gallery, 110 Legazpi Street, Makati City (across Greenbelt 5)
There are no upholstered seats in this theater, just a sea of pillows and a few monoblock chairs. In fact, this is not even a theater, but a gallery called A Space that hosts exhibits, gigs, and talks. In this non-traditional performance space, Red Turnip Theater brings in an electric show that’s raw and real.
Initially not part of its main offerings for the company’s third season, the play This is Our Youth is part of the launch of the company’s “RT 0.5 Series,” bite-sized surprises that the Turnips plan to stage apart from their main productions. The plays in the series will be done in intimate spaces, with limited seats, and with cheaper tickets.
Written by American dramatist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan in the 1990s, This is Our Youth is set in a New York City apartment in 1982 — smack-dab in the materialistic Reagan era. It follows two young men who are deciding what to do with the money one of them has stolen from his abusive father. Dennis, the apartment’s owner, wants to buy cocaine to resell while Warren, who stole the dough, want to entice fashion student Jessica into bed.
“A revealing and offbeat dissection of its world,” according to New York Times critic Peter Marks, the play has always attracted top young actors — it featured Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hamilton, and Missy Yager when it opened Off-Broadway in 1996, and Jake Gyllenhaal, Hayden Christensen, and Anna Paquin when it premiered in the West End in 2002. The Tony-nominated Broadway revival in 2014 starred Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, and Tavi Gevinson, and a number of restagings featured film stars Matt Damon, Colin Hanks, Chris Klein, Casey Affleck, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Summer Phoenix, Alison Lohman, and Heather Burns.
The Philippine production stars Jef Flores (4000 Miles, Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady, The Normal Heart) as Dennis, Nicco Manalo (Cinemalaya and Star Awards’ Best Supporting Actor for The Janitor) as Warren, and Cindy Lopez as Jessica.
The play is directed by Topper Fabregas. — Jasmine Agnes T. Cruz
(For tickets visit www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999, or e-mail redturniptheater@gmail.com.)
