New York City, 1982. Two college dropouts suddenly find themselves sitting on $15,000 worth of stolen cash. Their lives (and tiny Upper West Side apartment) are thrown in for a loop when a young woman enters the picture, forcing them to question their privileged existence as well as their loyalties to each other. THIS IS OUR YOUTH is a comic gem about the "Me Generation" and a witty, acerbic snapshot of that confusing place between adolescence and adulthood.
THIS IS OUR YOUTH opened Off-Broadway in 1996 and featured Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hamilton, and Missy Yager. Premiering in the West End in 2002, the cast starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Hayden Christensen, and Anna Paquin. Broadway saw its Tony-nominated revival in 2014 starring Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, and Tavi Gevinson. The play has seen a number of restagings, featuring notable film actors, many of whom were in their first stage role, including Matt Damon, Colin Hanks, Chris Klein, Casey Affleck, Freddie Prinze Jr., Summer Phoenix, Alison Lohman and Heather Burns.
THE AUTHOR
Kenneth Lonergan grew up in New York City and has lived there his entire life. He attended the Walden School in Manhattan and graduated from New York University. He began writing plays in high school and at age eighteen saw his play The Rennings Children produced by the Young Playwrights Festival in 1982. After graduating from college, he was affiliated with Naked Angels, an Off-
Broadway troupe, while also working as a speechwriter and corporate scriptwriter.
Lonergan’s father was a doctor and his mother a psychiatrist; after they divorced, his mother married another psychiatrist. Lonergan has a brother, half-brother, and several stepsiblings, and relationships among siblings are an important theme in his work. He also drew on personal experience in writing The Waverly Gallery, based on his observations of his grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The stage success of This Is Our Youth led Lonergan to Hollywood to work on a variety of projects, including the box-office and critical failureThe Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Although unhappy with the process of writing screenplays under studio control, Lonergan did not abandon screenwriting but instead sought independent production forYou Can Count on Me. The play Lobby Hero, though produced after the film success in 2001, was written and contracted for production in 1998. In 2000, Lonergan married J. Smith-Cameron, an actress who appears in You Can Count on Me.
THE DIRECTOR
Topper is one of the founding members of Red Turnip Theater (along with fellow actors Jenny Jamora, Ana Abad Santos, Cris Villonco and Rem Zamora). He made his directorial debut in RABBIT HOLE and also starred as John in their production of COCK.
Topper's other notable stage roles include Leo Bloom in THE PRODUCERS, Robert Castin in BOEING BOEING, Jack Gable in LEADING LADIES, Daryl in SHAKESPEARE IN HOLLYWOOD, Bianca/Grumio in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Dickon in THE SECRET GARDEN, Rolf in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Dogberry in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING for Repertory Philippines, and as Claire in THE MAIDS for MusicArtes,directed by Anton Juan. He has been featured in CCP's The Virgin Labfest in DIGITAL DIVIDE and WENDY WANTS TO BE A HOUSEWIFE, both by Dingdong
Novenario. He made his theater debut as Peter in the premier cast of THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE for Trumpets back in 1997.
He left Manila in 2007 to complete his studies at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in Manhattan. His New York theatre credits include A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Lysander/Flute), URINETOWN (Hot Blades Harry), AND THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND (Male 1), MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Claudio), AS YOU LIKE IT (Adam/Jacques) and IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PANCAKE for Theaterworks USA.
Topper is also a regular workshop instructor has appeared in a number of commercials for Globe, Magic Sarap, Mitsubishi, Bioflu, Jollibee, etc.
He was last seen as Felix Turner in THE NORMAL HEART for AAI / The Necessary Theater.
THE CAST
Nicco Manalo was already a critical darling on stage when he won the Cinemalaya and Star Awards’ Best Supporting Actor for the film The Janitor. He was also nominated for Gawad Buhay acting awards for American Hwangap and Kleptomaniacs. Other notable stage credits are Batang Rizal for PETA, Dogeaters, Spring Awakening, The Musical for Atlantis Productions, and Titus Andronicus, for Dullan U.P.
Notable film include, Barber’s Tales, Patayin sa shokot si Remington.
Jef Flores hails from the musical world. A violinist and composer, he joined the theater scene singing his heart out in musicals such as Cinderella (Ensemble) Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (Ensemble) Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady (Bazooka Man) and Snow White (Woodsman/Prince). But 2015 marked a new foray into the straight play with his efforts in Repertory Philippines' 4000 Miles (Leo) which garnered him a Gawad Buhay nomination. He carried on into AAI's The Normal Heart (Craig/Hiram/Grady/Examining Doctor) and garnishes his 'breakout' year with Red Turnip in only his 3rd play ever. He can also be seen as the waiter Ben in The Boston: The Kitchen Musical which airs on the Lifestyle Network, TFC, and MyxTV-US and has a famous affinity for rehearsing barefoot.
Cindy Lopez is currently in the process of figuring out how to juggle being an editor by day and a theatre actress by night. Before landing a job in digital editorial, Cindy acted mostly in theatre after graduating from the Ateneo de Manila University. She started her theatre career in 2009 with Tanghalang Ateneo. A bulk of her theatre productions were with Tanghalang Ateneo, such as Sintang Dalisay, Fireflies, What You Will (Twelfth Night), and most recently Waiting For Godot. To know more of Cindy’s work as an editor, visit Cosmo.ph. She also swims in a fish bowl.
THE ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION TEAM
Kayla Teodoro - Set Designer
Joseph Matheu - Lighting Designer
Jenny Jamora - Sound
Mariko Yasuda - Productio Manager
Poch Angeles - Stage Manager
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dan Gil
Mickey Amistoso
Mike Alvarez
SPONSORS
FILA has been with with Red Turnip Theater since we started in 2013. It has sponsored every opening night, making Red Turnip Gala performances a hot ticket. FILA's unwavering support for Red Turnip has made it possible for us to push the boundaries of our craft and to produce material that does the same.
DISCOVER THE BONBON CLUB AT
No. 16 Tropical Palms, Gallardo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati 1229
Hours: Mo-Th 1600-0000 / Fr 1600-0200 / Sa 1800-0200 /Su Closed
THIS IS OUR YOTUH ticket holders get exclusive, first access to a new drink, at a special price, The Bonbon Smash. Tickets must be presented at time of purchase. This drink will be exclusive to ticket holders and not available to the general public.