Neither fantasy nor fable, Undergraduate Theater Association's production of Kenneth Lonergan's This is Our Youth"" opens Thursday, examining a generation searching for meaning amidst chaos.
Directed by UW junior Charlie Bauer, the play follows three Upper West Side New York teens during the Reagan Era: Warren (UW junior Andy Ortman), an awkward but charming ""abused soul,"" Dennis (UW sophomore John Hause), a charismatic but jerky ""dark cult god of high school"" and Jessica (UW senior Paloma Nozicka), an argumentative but lonely fashion student.
As the play opens, Warren is visiting Dennis' unkempt apartment after stealing $15,000 from his lingerie-tycoon father. Together the pair grapple with moral and philosophical issues concerning this theft and eventually decide they must figure out a way to get the money back without Warren's father finding out. Along the way, they encounter Jessica, who makes them question their purpose even further.
""This is Our Youth"" explores a myriad of complex themes: sex, drugs, death, relationships, youth and addictions to name a few. Yet, through these more somber ideas, comedy emerges out of the desperation and sheer awkwardness of the characters.
""They're funny the way real people are funny - they don't mean to be,"" Nozicka said.
Although the characters may not seem relatable at first glance - rich kids trying to decide what to do with a stolen $15,000 - the comedy increases our ability to sympathy for them.
""Humor is really the means of making the characters accessible to the audience,"" Bauer said. ""[Warren's dating] insecurities really come out, which is also very relatable to people,"" Ortman added.
Although philosophical and moral issues do arise, the show does not intentionally preach to the choir.
""The biggest thing is that we don't want this to be a 'don't do drugs' show ... We want it to speak and raise a lot of questions,"" Hause said.
Throughout the script, Lonergan creates natural dialogue by adding filler such as ""like"" or ""um,"" creating more natural dialogue.
""Every word, every typeface means something. And it's a code that we had to crack. We had to break its back to make it do what we wanted it to do,"" Bauer said.
The play also contains a series of confrontations, each creating more tension than the last. Bauer and the cast have worked to continually raise the stakes with every scene and every confrontation, containing the explosive climax until the end.
""When we get to the final, big confrontation, that's where we let the fireworks happen ... By that point the audience is begging for it,"" Bauer said.
As with all UTA shows, every aspect of ""This is Our Youth"" is completely rendered by undergraduate students at UW-Madison. The cast and crew operate in an extremely professional manner, holding themselves to exceptionally high standards. This show in particular is also a means to connect with students.
""I think this show is going to change the way people look at UTA ... It's one of the first shows they've picked in a while that's been really pertinent to people our age,"" Nozicka said.
Laden with edginess, awkwardness, humor and connection, ""This is Our Youth"" opens this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Hemsley Theatre and run through Nov. 22.
