This better not be our youth

Watching Theatre Intime’s production of “This Is Our Youth” is a bit like going through the experience of growing up itself: It starts out very rough and awkward, but when it’s all over, things come to make a bit more sense.

The three-person satire, written by Kenneth Lonergan and directed in this production by Chris Ghaffari ’12, is a harsh critique of the drug-dealing, privileged wastrel scene in Manhattan’s Upper West Side during the early 1980s. The entire play is set in the apartment of Dennis Ziegler, a 21-year-old college dropout who, like the apartment itself, is a complete mess. He whiles away the hours watching old cartoons, dealing cocaine, yelling hysterically at his girlfriend over the phone and, of course, smoking a lot of weed.

Dan Yawitz ’12, who plays Dennis, personifies the stereotype of the rich, liberal remnant of the ’60s who lives in New York’s posh Upper West Side. Unfortunately, his portrayal is done in a rather clumsy and caricatured way — he’s just a little too high on pot and a little too much of a dude to be completely realistic.

The image of the privileged, spoiled kid is almost violently thrust at us in this production of the play. It may be an attempt by Ghaffari to resonate with certain Princeton stereotypes, despite the lack of any substantive parallels between the two. Nevertheless, Yawitz does a good job setting the tone in a milieu so far removed from reality that it could very easily come off as unconvincing.

The plot is set in motion when Dennis’ friend Warren — a pot-smoking romantic who after several years is still deeply affected by the murder of his sister — enters the apartment. He comes along with a huge sum of money stolen from his father, which he took in retaliation for being thrown out of the family home. Afraid of the consequences from his father, the most vicious and powerful lingerie mogul in America, Warren panics and searches frantically for a scheme to give all the money back — while at the same time trying to use it to get laid.

Warren is played by Matt Seely ’14, who is magnificent as the sloppy wannabe struggling to grow up and get over his lousy childhood. So is Lindsey Rose Aguero-Sinclair ’13, who plays Jessica, a starry-eyed fashion student who comes over for a date. The extended seduction scene between the two of them is played out to perfection with awkward smiles and pretentious philosophizing, as well as the very real bonding over their nostalgic love for old toys.

Seely and Aguero-Sinclair have a strong chemistry that drives the majority of the play, unlike Yawitz and Seely, whose interactions often come off as strained and artificial. The opening scene of the play, in which the two engage in a kind of over-the-top macho power struggle, alternates between violent fist-fights and moments of marijuana-induced hilarity. Sadly, the rapid and unexpected emotional transitions are handled in a manner that is often clunky.

By contrast, Seely and Aguero-Sinclair display the perfect balance of adolescent immaturity and tender affection, culminating in the climactic face-off in which Jessica insists that Warren must make a choice between his past ties and his present infatuations.

A good deal of credit must go to the set designers, who did a brilliant job recreating the environment in which these young rebels lead their lives. From the piles of takeaway cartons and empty beer bottles to the sports equipment and immature artwork, the set immerses the audience in the world of the play.

Overall, this performance is flawed but enjoyable. Like its characters, “This Is Our Youth” is by turns sweet, immature and heartless — an ode to a generation of which I, for one, am delighted not to have been a part.

3 Paws

Pros Clear, sometimes humorous and fabulous acting by some of the cast.