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This is Our Youth
Dennis—with a famous painter father and social activist mother—is a small-time drug dealer and total mess. His hero-worshipping friend Warren has just impulsively stolen $15,000 from his father, an abusive lingerie tycoon. When Jessica, a mixed-up prep school girl, shows up for a date, Warren pulls out a wad of bills and takes her off, awkwardly, for a night of seduction. A wildly funny, bittersweet, and moving story, This Is Our Youth is as trenchant as it was upon its acclaimed premiere in 1996.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
May 16, 2020
I know Kenneth Lonergan through some great films such as Manchester by the Sea but never read or saw a production of this play, which was said to define (yet another) lost generation of young people. I was even living in Manhattan in 1996 when it premiered to great acclaim, but the focus of the play--three rich white teens living on the upper west side, eh--I thought I had better and more useful things to do with my time. But now I listened to a great 2014 LA Theater Works production of the play featuring Josh Hamilton, Mark Ruffalo (Hulk, right!) and Missy Yager, reprising roles they had done more than a decade earlier in NYC.
These three kids are rich, two guys just graduated from some rich prep school and a girl who is a prep school student. They have resources and no plans, no ambitions, and are in no way admirable (though in this production, a kind of looking back, there is some empathy for their being lost that I detect). Dennis is a small time drug dealer, Warren has just stolen $15 k in cash from his dad and wants to "get together with" and impress Jessica. Nonme of them have anything going for them except they are privileged rich white kids, and yet the dialogue is terrific, often funny, occasionally touching.
I see this piece in tandem with Larry Clark's (1995) film Kids (about rich mostly white Manhattan middle school kids lost already in drugs and sex), both sort of moral warnings about kids nowadaze. And they are both scary in certain ways and funny in their hopelessness, too. But Youth is less hopeless because though Dennis and Warren are stupid and abusive and profane, there are touching moments between Warren and Jessica, especially.
I also see clear connections between Lonergan and David Mamet--the great dialogue, the lost ainless characters mainly just talking, the exploration of "the present moment" and the swirl of ethical dilemmas. I know, I haven't sold you yet on why you should read or listen to this, none of them are admirable, but at least for moments they seem vulnerable and we are surprised to care about them. Such great performances, followed by a discussion with the playwright, the director and the three actors that is terrific.
These three kids are rich, two guys just graduated from some rich prep school and a girl who is a prep school student. They have resources and no plans, no ambitions, and are in no way admirable (though in this production, a kind of looking back, there is some empathy for their being lost that I detect). Dennis is a small time drug dealer, Warren has just stolen $15 k in cash from his dad and wants to "get together with" and impress Jessica. Nonme of them have anything going for them except they are privileged rich white kids, and yet the dialogue is terrific, often funny, occasionally touching.
I see this piece in tandem with Larry Clark's (1995) film Kids (about rich mostly white Manhattan middle school kids lost already in drugs and sex), both sort of moral warnings about kids nowadaze. And they are both scary in certain ways and funny in their hopelessness, too. But Youth is less hopeless because though Dennis and Warren are stupid and abusive and profane, there are touching moments between Warren and Jessica, especially.
I also see clear connections between Lonergan and David Mamet--the great dialogue, the lost ainless characters mainly just talking, the exploration of "the present moment" and the swirl of ethical dilemmas. I know, I haven't sold you yet on why you should read or listen to this, none of them are admirable, but at least for moments they seem vulnerable and we are surprised to care about them. Such great performances, followed by a discussion with the playwright, the director and the three actors that is terrific.
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April 7, 2023manhattan-raised rich white kids who do drugs, steal money, and face no real consequences during reagan's america. i actually really liked this? i felt it perfectly captured the gen x brand of cynicism. not much happens (it spans only 48 hours) but also so much happens � amended: enough happens that the plot moves but it doesn't feel overambitious. also, michael cera played the main character in a 2014 stage adaptation. (i didn't watch it but i could not unhear his voice when reading the lines.)
March 30, 2008
Once upon a time, I was the president of my college theater group and I can't say how many times this play came up as an option to be produced. I never read the play - I heard the plot synopsis and I was sold on the spot - slacker youths, drugs and sex, lots of cursing, and that it had somehow stood out as the quintessential play in the genre. For all those same reasons, my fellow board members routinely voted it down... not that we always did such clean, happy shows, but I'm just saying that my cries to do Bogosian's "SubUrbia" fell on similarly deaf ears.
Anyway, after years and years I thought I might actually like to read the play and see what we'd missed out on. I picked it up while bored in a bookstore in Harvard Square over the winter and read through most of Act One in the fifteen minutes or so I had to kill. I'd recently gone to see "Things We Want" by The New Group and, while I enjoyed parts of the show quite a bit (Dinklage and Hamilton... but I'll get to Hamilton) I kept thinking - "This just isn't 'This is Our Youth' but I know it wants to be." That's when it hit me that I had never actually read the play I was saying it was inferior to.
So, now that I have, I can say that my earlier, baseless statements were right. The play is quite a lot of fun and almost exactly what I had envisioned during the years it lived in my imagination as just a concept. It's witty, rough, irreverent, and hypnotic, despite very little actually going on. There's a vague plot surrounding some stolen money, without which, I suppose, there's not much action... but predictably that doesn't really come to much in the end - aside from giving the boys the means to get some drugs. No, the main thrill of the play is watching the interaction between Dennis and Warren, our two slacker-heroes. Dennis is the clear master in the relationship at first - he bosses lovably meek Warren around, which only leads Warren to further idol-worship Dennis. The real plot of the play is not some stuff about drugs and cash, but about watching Warren break free of Dennis's control and step into his own for the first time. It's a powerful, moving little progression - you cannot help but be similarly drawn to the magnanimity that is Dennis - he's fast-talking, quick witted, hopelessly manipulative, and fascinating. It was no surprise to me to finally notice at the end of my read that the part was originated by none other than Josh Hamilton - without prompting, I'd been picturing him all along - in part because of his somewhat similar role in Things We Want. Warren is a much more interesting version of the character played by Paul Dano in Things We Want - and originally was played by Mark Ruffalo, which was surprising and yet seems perfect. I'd been somewhat imagining a meek, Dead -Poets-Society-era Ethan Hawke (who directed Things We Want!).
At any rate, I am now sad that I'll probably never get to see Hamilton in the role (he's still damn good, but not quite 25 anymore). And I'm doubly sad that we never got to put up the show when I was in college. Perhaps someday, somewhere, I'll stumble onto a little college production somewhere and finally get to see it staged. Until then, I guess I'm just glad I actually know what I'm talking about when I say things aren't as good as This Is Our Youth.
Anyway, after years and years I thought I might actually like to read the play and see what we'd missed out on. I picked it up while bored in a bookstore in Harvard Square over the winter and read through most of Act One in the fifteen minutes or so I had to kill. I'd recently gone to see "Things We Want" by The New Group and, while I enjoyed parts of the show quite a bit (Dinklage and Hamilton... but I'll get to Hamilton) I kept thinking - "This just isn't 'This is Our Youth' but I know it wants to be." That's when it hit me that I had never actually read the play I was saying it was inferior to.
So, now that I have, I can say that my earlier, baseless statements were right. The play is quite a lot of fun and almost exactly what I had envisioned during the years it lived in my imagination as just a concept. It's witty, rough, irreverent, and hypnotic, despite very little actually going on. There's a vague plot surrounding some stolen money, without which, I suppose, there's not much action... but predictably that doesn't really come to much in the end - aside from giving the boys the means to get some drugs. No, the main thrill of the play is watching the interaction between Dennis and Warren, our two slacker-heroes. Dennis is the clear master in the relationship at first - he bosses lovably meek Warren around, which only leads Warren to further idol-worship Dennis. The real plot of the play is not some stuff about drugs and cash, but about watching Warren break free of Dennis's control and step into his own for the first time. It's a powerful, moving little progression - you cannot help but be similarly drawn to the magnanimity that is Dennis - he's fast-talking, quick witted, hopelessly manipulative, and fascinating. It was no surprise to me to finally notice at the end of my read that the part was originated by none other than Josh Hamilton - without prompting, I'd been picturing him all along - in part because of his somewhat similar role in Things We Want. Warren is a much more interesting version of the character played by Paul Dano in Things We Want - and originally was played by Mark Ruffalo, which was surprising and yet seems perfect. I'd been somewhat imagining a meek, Dead -Poets-Society-era Ethan Hawke (who directed Things We Want!).
At any rate, I am now sad that I'll probably never get to see Hamilton in the role (he's still damn good, but not quite 25 anymore). And I'm doubly sad that we never got to put up the show when I was in college. Perhaps someday, somewhere, I'll stumble onto a little college production somewhere and finally get to see it staged. Until then, I guess I'm just glad I actually know what I'm talking about when I say things aren't as good as This Is Our Youth.
November 11, 2023
Trust fund baby stoners getting stoned and being dumbasses. This annoyed me, but it’s required reading for my theatre class.
June 14, 2018
I really love this play as a character and dialogue study. Also I love reading about rich morally ambiguous young adults throwing their lives away for fun. Like a 1980s Jewish Gossip Girl that was actually really sad and pretty moving and very emotionally poignant.
August 15, 2020
Teenage stoners talking about life, love and drugs.
January 3, 2009
It's a wonderful character study that shows how intelligent, unique, young adults who are slackers can be both insightful and pathetic.
I learned that the line between success and failure is a fine one in all areas of our lives. We can easily become stuck in cycles, delve deeper into our eccentricities and just as easily find hope, acceptance, and love.
I learned that the line between success and failure is a fine one in all areas of our lives. We can easily become stuck in cycles, delve deeper into our eccentricities and just as easily find hope, acceptance, and love.
January 25, 2024
Stumbled upon this play in my bookmarks, and I can only assume it was an age-old recommendation from my former drama school teacher, because it’s full of sex, drugs and social politics (and people talking over each other) all of which he very much enjoys - as did I. Only wish I could have seen this performed live, the dialogue is electric and effortlessly quick.
July 6, 2017
2.5 stars.
May 12, 2016
kenneth lonergan gives us a play that feels like bogosian considering the distresses of white urban rich kids, overflowing with the anger and issues that haunt people who have graduated high school and have nowhere else to go, but because theyre rich find the going noncompulsory. it's about three teens, two guys and a girl, and it's about friendship and power dynamics and how we process feelings when we're used to being degraded and diminished. there's lots of drugs and lots of cursing and maybe you won't even like these characters, but lonergan really nails these personality types.
August 13, 2016
Some of the dialogue is overwrought and contradictory, the characters don't always act consistently or even in their own best interests. Their views are far from fully formed but expressed vehemently. A fairly accurate and funny emotional snapshot of being young then? Yes.
November 20, 2020
I watched a Zoom performance of this a month ago and really loved it. It’s interesting to read it as a play as someone who doesn’t really read plays. This is very much My Shit so I’m biased but I loved the texture and style put into these young characters� existential crises and how it’s astutely juxtaposed against the Reaganite nightmare of their day to day lives (this play has uh aged extremely well in that respect). They’re simultaneously pathetic and relatable, which is such a tricky tightrope walk to pull off but Lonergan does, he’s very talented imo, I’m the first person to think this
April 11, 2021
Rich white kids in the early 80s steal a lot of money from their parents and spend it on cocaine and a suite at New York’s Plaza Hotel. Trust me, it sounds a lot more fun than it actually is. Not much changes from beginning to end in terms of plot or character. Lonergan writes some solid dialogue and nicely captures the essence of toxic masculinity, but ultimately the play falls flat.
April 20, 2024
After absolutely loving “Poor Things� and finally catching Kenneth Lonergan’s “You Can Count on Me� (I’ve always loved “Manchester by the Sea�), I decided to finally read the play that made the fantastic Mark Ruffalo come into our lives. In this play, Lonergan captures the voice of our youth in the 90s - I look forward to seeing it performed one day.
August 20, 2020
Eek, there was definitely a horrible thing going on in the 80s with New York middle class twentysomethings, as has been so successfully documented in fiction:
They were all a buncha dicks!
Who cares?
They were all a buncha dicks!
Who cares?
February 13, 2025
All my homies love Warren
April 2, 2022
I really, really enjoyed this.
July 9, 2022
Did a cold read of this play with a scene partner and it was very fun. The dialogue is so natural and naturally funny, and the the (gay?????????) dynamic between the two main characters is really interesting. It’s a very good play, and I liked playing Warren. Excited to try out Dennis (and Jessica).
July 19, 2024
A very quick read. Brilliantly structured but some of the dialogue made me roll my eyes.
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September 7, 2024if 14 year old you ever steps out of a time machine like 2 moments away from you and says: "hey look at this book I found in a TimeOut article", just punch them in the face
September 13, 2022
Since I watched You Can Count on Me, I’ve been wanting some more Lonergan. Specifically I’ve been wanting to watch the This is Our Youth production with Kieran Culkin (and Michael Cera). I have not been able to find a clip longer than a few minutes. So instead, I looked up the script and read it during school today (I like to read scripts of plays from pdfs at school, so sue me!). I also read it imagining Culkin and Cera in their respective roles which I recommend.
I really liked this! It only deepened my want to watch it. So if anyone has found a full recording, please, I beg of you.
God, I really just like Lonergan’s dialogue. It’s very naturalistic and (without sounding conceited I hope) closer to the way I write than most. He adds humor in a natural, normal way.
The characters are so distinctive and come to life on the page (it probably helps that I have someone to imagine, but I stay the point). There’s only three (two in most of it) so they all have to hold their own.
I really like the small snapshot way of things, short timeframe, one room. There’s something delicious about stories of this nature.
I found all of the themes, major and minor, really interesting. Especially towards the end when things started to come together.
I really really want to watch it now. Dammit!
I really liked this! It only deepened my want to watch it. So if anyone has found a full recording, please, I beg of you.
God, I really just like Lonergan’s dialogue. It’s very naturalistic and (without sounding conceited I hope) closer to the way I write than most. He adds humor in a natural, normal way.
The characters are so distinctive and come to life on the page (it probably helps that I have someone to imagine, but I stay the point). There’s only three (two in most of it) so they all have to hold their own.
I really like the small snapshot way of things, short timeframe, one room. There’s something delicious about stories of this nature.
I found all of the themes, major and minor, really interesting. Especially towards the end when things started to come together.
I really really want to watch it now. Dammit!
April 16, 2025
did a reading of this play with friends (for kicks and giggles and love of acting work) and read for dennis. kinda felt like i was going to throw up every time i had a break from talking. this play is so specific—the dialogue is uncannily natural and the discussions on class and selfishness are potent. it was a gift and, to some extent, a good exercise to step into dennis’s shoes in order to acknowledge that, at my worst, i am really not all that different from him. on the other hand, though, i always feel like i need to take a shower after reading this play.
December 12, 2017
LOVED THIS PLAY. So much that as soon as I finished it, I started again from the beginning and simply highlighted every moment—and there are many—of its everyday poetry.
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July 10, 2019This is one of those plays that upsets me because it is exactly the kind of thing I want to write but done with a skill and power that feels unattainable.
May 9, 2024
will never not be incredible
April 20, 2025
I fucking love this play and mark my words i WILL do this show someday along side Liam Bull and sam lucas (plus shane howard for funsies)
Update: We’re scheming 😈
Update: We’re scheming 😈
January 27, 2021
“This Is Our Youth� By Kenneth Lonergan
“This Is Our Youth�
By Kenneth Lonergan
Narrated by: Mark Ruffalo, Missy Yager, Josh Hamilton
Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
Published September 25th 2009 by LA Theatre Works
This almost could have been me. I was a teen in the Reagan 80s, and well smoking pot was the thing to do. I didn't live in a big city, my dad wasn't rich and well, I guess maybe this couldn't have been me. I never got the chance to steal $15k from my dad when he kicked me out, Instead I joined the Navy. It's official, nope not me.
However I do know these people in this play. But first let's talk about the actors in this performance from L.A. Theatre Works. This is Mark Ruffalo before he was the Incredible Hulk in those Marvel movies. In fact, this production is a reunion of sorts. The original cast from the off broadway original production got back together with the original director to do this show for LATW. I'm sure that when originally performed back in 1996 the actors were closer to the age of the teenagers they portrayed than when getting back together for this performance, but I can tell you that they seemed to fit right back in with those characters.
Warren (played by Ruffalo) is kicked out of his rich dad's house. To get revenge he steals $15,000 from his dad and heads to his friend, Dennis' apartment. The two potsmokers decide they need to get the money back, but Warren has already spent a sizable chunk of the cash. Now they need to get back the money so they can sneak the original amount back into Warren's dads house. The plan is to buy some cocaine and sell enough to make back their money plus the missing amount and do the rest themselves.
While Dennis is out getting the coke, Warren gets a visit from Jessica. Jessic and Warren take another chunk of the money and party on the town, even renting out a ritzy hotel room. This just makes it harder to make the money back so the scheming begins.
I strongly feel this play could be performed even today and still be relevant. If you want a cool theatre audio experience this would be a great choice. If you want to perform a play touching out today's youth, this play would still be a great choice.
Once again LATW has brought to life a play to the audio audience that will put you in the middle of the performance.
“This Is Our Youth�
By Kenneth Lonergan
Narrated by: Mark Ruffalo, Missy Yager, Josh Hamilton
Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
Published September 25th 2009 by LA Theatre Works
This almost could have been me. I was a teen in the Reagan 80s, and well smoking pot was the thing to do. I didn't live in a big city, my dad wasn't rich and well, I guess maybe this couldn't have been me. I never got the chance to steal $15k from my dad when he kicked me out, Instead I joined the Navy. It's official, nope not me.
However I do know these people in this play. But first let's talk about the actors in this performance from L.A. Theatre Works. This is Mark Ruffalo before he was the Incredible Hulk in those Marvel movies. In fact, this production is a reunion of sorts. The original cast from the off broadway original production got back together with the original director to do this show for LATW. I'm sure that when originally performed back in 1996 the actors were closer to the age of the teenagers they portrayed than when getting back together for this performance, but I can tell you that they seemed to fit right back in with those characters.
Warren (played by Ruffalo) is kicked out of his rich dad's house. To get revenge he steals $15,000 from his dad and heads to his friend, Dennis' apartment. The two potsmokers decide they need to get the money back, but Warren has already spent a sizable chunk of the cash. Now they need to get back the money so they can sneak the original amount back into Warren's dads house. The plan is to buy some cocaine and sell enough to make back their money plus the missing amount and do the rest themselves.
While Dennis is out getting the coke, Warren gets a visit from Jessica. Jessic and Warren take another chunk of the money and party on the town, even renting out a ritzy hotel room. This just makes it harder to make the money back so the scheming begins.
I strongly feel this play could be performed even today and still be relevant. If you want a cool theatre audio experience this would be a great choice. If you want to perform a play touching out today's youth, this play would still be a great choice.
Once again LATW has brought to life a play to the audio audience that will put you in the middle of the performance.
February 7, 2025
“But listen � Would you be morally offended if I kissed you for just a second?�
“Well, I mean, what’s the rush?�
“No rush. I’d just like to get rid of this knot in my stomach.�
“Oh � Sure, I mean � Whatever’s expedient.�
Lonergan knows how to write some dialogue. This was a lot of fun to read, and it was a delight to follow these three horny, conflicted, emotional young adults. My classmate Aidan suggested this play to potentially use for our next scene in Scene Study, so I had to do my homework.
And we may do something from this! We have some time to read more and decide, but I do think we’d have some fun as Dennis and Warren (he being Dennis; I being Warren). Kinda works out, because both have this coked-up energy, but Dennis is taller/stronger (albeit unambitious), and Warren is the shorter/anxious/grieving one. They’re both kinda stuck with each other.
"I'm like the basis of your personality... I'm like a one-man youth culture for you pathetic assholes. You're gonna remember your youth as like a gray stoned haze punctuated by a series of beatings from your fuckin' Dad, and like,ÌýmyÌýjokes."
There’s only three characters here. And Warren is really the only connective tissue of the three, but all are so fun to follow and experience their world views. Warren perhaps because of inaction and a certain lack of agency he finds himself thrust (stuck) with these characters, but his arrested development is wondrous to unpack, or at least learn from.
“Not much happens,� but so much happens. Hubris, modernity, and grief are the main motivators and obstacles of this story; these are experiences that shape our youth (I mean, that title, ba dum tsssss) and it’s never easy.
Lonergan’s monologues always sound / seem so out-of-breath; but they’re frequently very funny, even if they come from a pained place. No wonder his plays have a lot of repeat actors (Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin).
“Well, I mean, what’s the rush?�
“No rush. I’d just like to get rid of this knot in my stomach.�
“Oh � Sure, I mean � Whatever’s expedient.�
Lonergan knows how to write some dialogue. This was a lot of fun to read, and it was a delight to follow these three horny, conflicted, emotional young adults. My classmate Aidan suggested this play to potentially use for our next scene in Scene Study, so I had to do my homework.
And we may do something from this! We have some time to read more and decide, but I do think we’d have some fun as Dennis and Warren (he being Dennis; I being Warren). Kinda works out, because both have this coked-up energy, but Dennis is taller/stronger (albeit unambitious), and Warren is the shorter/anxious/grieving one. They’re both kinda stuck with each other.
"I'm like the basis of your personality... I'm like a one-man youth culture for you pathetic assholes. You're gonna remember your youth as like a gray stoned haze punctuated by a series of beatings from your fuckin' Dad, and like,ÌýmyÌýjokes."
There’s only three characters here. And Warren is really the only connective tissue of the three, but all are so fun to follow and experience their world views. Warren perhaps because of inaction and a certain lack of agency he finds himself thrust (stuck) with these characters, but his arrested development is wondrous to unpack, or at least learn from.
“Not much happens,� but so much happens. Hubris, modernity, and grief are the main motivators and obstacles of this story; these are experiences that shape our youth (I mean, that title, ba dum tsssss) and it’s never easy.
Lonergan’s monologues always sound / seem so out-of-breath; but they’re frequently very funny, even if they come from a pained place. No wonder his plays have a lot of repeat actors (Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin).
August 30, 2023
Owad’s Micro-Review #108
On first glance, this is a play about rich kids who refuse to grow up. On closer inspection, it’s a moving and shrewdly humorous tale about two friends in 1980s New York who are terrified of life and loss in the big, cold world. Dennis and Warren are aimless uptown kids who are into dope, sex and avoidance. They guard their youth jealously, but the clock of adulthood ticks. Long-avoided bills must soon be paid.
The date with responsibility arrives in the form of a woman who is equally as lost. This isn’t a triangle so much as three bad swimmers flailing about in weedy waters. The drifters know there’s more than monied ennui going on; they do suspect they might be their own worst enemies. Whether they’re equipped for a journey to self-awareness isn’t certain, but they have our sympathy. Because their struggles are our struggles—people fighting to get through life without a roadmap—only cynical readers won’t want them to make it.
On first glance, this is a play about rich kids who refuse to grow up. On closer inspection, it’s a moving and shrewdly humorous tale about two friends in 1980s New York who are terrified of life and loss in the big, cold world. Dennis and Warren are aimless uptown kids who are into dope, sex and avoidance. They guard their youth jealously, but the clock of adulthood ticks. Long-avoided bills must soon be paid.
The date with responsibility arrives in the form of a woman who is equally as lost. This isn’t a triangle so much as three bad swimmers flailing about in weedy waters. The drifters know there’s more than monied ennui going on; they do suspect they might be their own worst enemies. Whether they’re equipped for a journey to self-awareness isn’t certain, but they have our sympathy. Because their struggles are our struggles—people fighting to get through life without a roadmap—only cynical readers won’t want them to make it.
August 19, 2024
reading this on the way to nyc felt so poignant. these same jaded male conversations doused with toxic masculinity, objectification and selfishness, while thematically set for the 80s, still happen regularly to this day. i found it fascinating how dennis complained about warren constantly, yet went out of his way on multiple occasions to “solve� warren’s problems for him. i deeply wish we had seen dennis alone to see if that grandiosity and chaotic energy persisted or if his insecurities would be illuminated further. jessica was a fascinating character, acting as this similar, yet starkly different presence. she too struggled with emotional connection and communication, but the impact of it as a woman in their dynamic comes with the risk of ruin to reputation, relationships and self-respect. damn, what i would’ve given to have seen this play. really beautiful characters and work.
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