This Is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonergan s lacerating look at affluent young Manhattanites of the 1980s, depicts two days in the lives of three college-age Upper West Siders who are from wealthy families but living in doped-up squalor. 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.
Kenneth Lonergan is a playwright, screenwriter, and director whose work for the stage includes Lobby Hero and The Waverly Gallery. He is the writer and director of the acclaimed film Margaret and received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays for You Can Count On Me and Gangs of New York.