Stage FUNCTIONAL ART Gingko Cuff by Michael Michaud NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN | NOVEMBER 13â€“19, 2013 | BOHEMIAN.COM 26 The Holiday Spirit is Here Beautiful Handmade Gifts for under $20 ďŹ ne & fashion jewelry / .BJO 4USFFU 4FCBTUPQPM t artisanafunctionalart.com :FDG< Â› ?FLJ< >8I; < Â› ? F L J < > 8 I ; < E J G <: @ 8 C @ J K J GETTING RIGHT Jimmy Gagarin, Lauren Heney and Lukas Thompson (L-R). Formative Years Drug deals, stolen money in Main Stageâ€™s â€˜Youthâ€™ BY DAVID TEMPLETON W VISIT OUR FRIENDLY STAFF AT OUR NEW .)'' JH =K N8I$N $N < J K J@ ; < < O@K Â› . ' .% + * * % + ' - / 707.433.4068 7 0 7.4 3 3 .4 0 6 8 w w w.ThriveHydro.com www.ThriveHydro.com 30 Healdsburg 3 0 A Mill Mill Street, St r e e t , H ealdsburg V VOTED OTED # #1â€”BEST 1â€” BEST HYDRO H Y DRO STORE S TO R E IIN N SONOMA SO N OMA COUNTY! COUNT Y! hen playwright Kenneth Lonergan ďŹ rst introduced audiences to his self-absorbed, drug-using, post-adolescent characters Dennis, Warren and Jessica, audiences didnâ€™t know what to think of This is Our Youth. The play, a dark comedy, steeped in drug use, strong profanity and references from H.R. Pufnstuf to Major Matt Mason. If youâ€™re too old for those references, you might be among those who feel a tad uncomfortable with Lonerganâ€™s raw and honest slice of Reagan-era life. At Sebastopolâ€™s Main Stage West, a ďŹ rst-rate cast is taking a good, entertaining crack at â€˜This is Our Youth,â€™ with ďŹ ne results. Directed by Keith Baker with a conďŹ dent, laidback style thatâ€™s nonetheless engagingâ€”even if it lacks some of the intensity and high-stakes drama of other productionsâ€”the play takes place in the apartment of Dennis, a brash, articulate part-time drug dealer who reluctantly agrees to let his friend Warren (a frequent customer) stay over after he gets kicked out of the house by his abusive lingerie-tycoon father. Warren stole ďŹ ve grand in cash before he vacated his dadâ€™s house, and now he has to ďŹ gure out how to replace the cash heâ€™s already spent before he can risk a return to his home. Into this mix steps Jessica, the wary yet game-to-party object of Warrenâ€™s desire. Eager to impress her with offers of expensive hotels and room service, Warren digs deeper into his pile of stolen moneyâ€”and digs himself deeper into trouble. A drug deal is proposed to earn the missing money. It does not go well. As Dennis, Jimmy Gagarin is sensational, hilariously primal at times, like an angry, pot-smoking rooster, but not above collapsing into tears when he ďŹ nds himself moved by Warrenâ€™s puppy-dog sense of misplaced hero-worship. Lukas Thompson, as Warren, has a wonderfully nerdy, woundedbut-deďŹ ant attitude, blending a sense of amiable hurt with a fragile hopefulness as he grows from adolescent to adult before our eyes. And as Jessica, Lauren Heney, with less stage time than the others, holds her own in scenes with Thompson and Gagarin, allowing her to show tiny ďŹ‚ashes of girlish glee beneath the characterâ€™s calculated veneer of distanced cool. With stunningly good dialogue and cleverly constructed storytelling, This is Our Youth is well worth a trip, whether it makes you remember your own youth, or worryâ€”just a littleâ€”about what your own kids might be up to. Rating: ++++ â€˜This is Our Youthâ€™ runs ThursdaySunday through Nov. 17 at Main Stage West. 106 N. Main St., Sebastopol. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 5pm. $15-$25. 707.823.0177.