Youths in Revolt

First-time director Chris Ghaffari ’12 is the director of “This Is Our Youth,” which will be performed at Theatre Intime during the next two weekends. Street sat down with Ghaffari to find out what makes this play so pertinent to Princeton students and what it can teach us about ourselves.

Q Why did you choose to direct “This is Our Youth”?

A There are a bunch of reasons. First, the play is very familiar in some ways because it’s about kids who are our age. It’s a small cast, but each actor is playing a character within a year of his or her age, so we’re drawing on a lot of personal experience. The play takes place in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and two out of three of our actors are from Manhattan, so that’s an interesting interplay. More generally it’s a play about being on the brink of going out into the world, separating from your parents and defining yourself now and in the future. It’s something kids are struggling with every day, to an extent, whether they admit it or not. And finally, it’s a play about kids who are from means. Though Princeton students come from diverse backgrounds, everyone here is privileged just by being here. It’s also a play about learning how to love one another, whether it’s in a friendship or in a romance. So the play is very pertinent, in that sense, because that’s what we’re doing every day here.

Q How is it different from other plays that are performed on campus?

A It’s very stripped down. It involves only three cast members, and it’s very naturalistic. The conversation and the language of the play are just like how we speak every day. It’s confronting so many of the things Princeton students are experiencing but are too busy, or too afraid, to confront. That’s the inner identity: not what you’re doing every day, not what you’re involved in, but who you are really deep down. We’re all struggling to pin that down. The play is in your face, in that sense, because it’s bringing to the fore those things that we try to hide.

Q And what are those things?

A A lot of Princeton kids, when they’re asked to describe somebody, they immediately go to what activities they’re involved in, their credentials, what club they’re president of, what their eating club affiliation is, what sport team they’re on, what their GPA is, what their job prospects are, etc. And they list all of those things before going into something that is more essential — and that is what their values are, what are their beliefs, what do they hold true to them and what do they aspire to.

Q How have rehearsals been going so far?

A It’s been fun because we’ve been able to ask the actors about their childhood experiences and really bring that to the stage. For example, the girl playing Jessica, Lindsey Rose Aguero-Sinclair ’13, has decided that her character went to a school that she once went to, so she’s drawing on that experience. In terms of the set, we’ve gotten to rehearse on stage for a long time in a space that resembles a very realistic apartment room full of clutter and junk and the remnants of our youth, with old toys and used sports equipment. So a lot of rehearsal has just been playing around, which has been fun and what theater should be.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Isabel Schwab.