This is Our Youth – The Kings Collective, Sydney Fringe Festival

In 2012, Superbad’s Michael Cera, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’s Kieran Culkin and Emily Barclay starred in Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre. The Kings Collective’s production at the Downstairs Tap Gallery (16- 21 September) has neither Hollywood stars nor the prestigious harbourside theatre location but I think you’d be hard pressed to see a better, more fitting production of This Is Our Youth anywhere else in Australia.

The newly formed group of young theatre makers – The Kings Collective – are unapologetic in their aim: “We are young. We are tired of being small and being alone. We are tired of technology. We are thirsty for life and communication. Life means everything and it is all we have. We don’t want to be cool. We don’t want to be vague, cut-off, indifferent. We are deeply wounded and we are strong. We are passionate, we are brave, we are heartfelt and we are sincere. We are humans and we are here to tell our stories.”

This Is Our Youth is an apt illustration of their manifesto and the team bountifully deliver.

At its outset, This Is Our Youth appears to be a play about washed-up, drug abusing rich kids who are happy to squat in parent-funded apartments without a job or ambition. The play is about the aimlessness of youth but Kenneth Lonergan so earnestly unpacks the reasoning behind each character’s seemingly vain struggles that the audience becomes fully invested in their stories. We see cut-off, indifferent youth who are at the same time passionate, strong and heartfelt.

This is as much a credit to Lonergan’s writing as it is to the skilled cast and Dan Eady’s direction. Joshua Brennan, Scott Lee and Georgia Scott each bring a sincerity and likability to their roles – never once defaulting to stereotypes. The subtlety and chemistry in Scott Lee and Georgia Scott’s scenes together were particularly a thrill to watch.

The Downstairs Tap Gallery theatre is one of the smallest, dingiest spaces to work in, which makes it a gift of a space for the right production. In this production, it was a perfect, intimate setting that enhanced the play’s believability. Tyler Hawkins’ design had us feeling we were fly-on-the wall witnesses – grubby walls, ripped carpet, stained sheets and all.

This Is Our Youth comes as a highly recommended production and we’ve got our eyes on The Kings Collective for what’s next to come. If this Sydney Fringe season is anything to go by, it’s going to be brilliant.