Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Shapiro's production, simply but effectively designed by Todd Rosenthal, hardly is elegiac, but she is a sufficiently shrewd director to exploit the new duality of this piece; its articulation of a timeless moment and a very time-bound moment, its ability to articulate youth and traffic in nostalgia, the need for youthful energy and some quieter thought and more confidence than those early productions (including one in Chicago) that so wanted to be hip, they seated people on cushions."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Culkin is ideally self-dramatizing and manipulative. But it is Cera who steals the show with his gangly, awkward body language, his sad-sack demeanor, his heartbreaking earnestness, and his subtly emerging sense of self. And something magical happens when he dances with the wholly surprising Gevinson, an 18-year-old beauty who has gone through a very public morphing of her own, evolving from an elfin, wunderkind fashionista and editor into a genuine butterfly of an actress - one who lights up the stage and easily can hold her own alongside two far more experienced actors."
Chicagoist - Recommended
"...Fresh from her stint directing the Tony-nominated Of Mice and Men on Broadway, director Anna D. Shapiro recognizes that Lonergan's play is not plot driven, it's character driven, and she's brought together a strong cast to implement it. On stage, Culkin is the most refined, which helps anchor his character as the pompous quasi-leader who uses his quick temper as a buffer against criticism. Cera plays a version of his specialty, which he cultivated in roles from Arrested Development, Juno and the like. Cera's Warren is awkward and shiftless, a freeloader with a silent arrogance and penchant for lazy decision making. When Dennis asks why Warren stole his father's money, Warren just shrugs and deems it "the proceeds of my unhappy childhood.""
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...But Cera is pure Cera. Having honed his mastery of awkward ineffectuality in the likes of Arrested Development, Juno and Superbad, the actor slots into Warren’s awkward ineffectuality so seamlessly as to make it hard to reconcile that the role was originated by Mark Ruffalo. Yet Cera gives Warren a real vulnerability and a strong arc of discovery over the play’s brief span. There’s little that’s wasted in this Youth."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...No one captures the volatile complexity and fragile bravado of mixed-up young adults better than the angry young plays of the 20th century. In Look Back in Anger, Dealer's Choice, Stupid Kids, and subUrbia lost generations find dead-ends they either deserve or don't. This Is Our Youth, Anna Shapiro's pile-driving (and New York-bound) staging of Kenneth Lonergan's Off-Broadway hit, is a devastating slice of youth. This object lesson in inaction is perfectly chosen and delivered by Steppenwolf Theatre to speak to today's damaged dreamers."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Act two contains powerful insights that crush the immortality beliefs of teens as fear of the future rocks home to Dennis. The role of friendship between the boys necessitates an implied acceptance that gets strained here. I liked the work of all three players whose honesty and naturalism rings true. Cera’s underplaying of the nerd boy garnered many laughs. This Is Our Youth is an excellent ‘date play’ that will relate to the 20’something crowd filled with raw humor and truth. There’s a scary warning in act two that negates the pleasures of drug use shown in earlier scenes. A good choice for Steppenwolf Theatre. this ‘coming of age’ urban tale. I’d take the teens in your life to see this resonant play."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Director Anna D. Shapiro brings her own star power to the production, and has wisely scaled down this version to fit the space. Todd Rosenthal's set seems to be a glimpse of what is to come in New York, and the alley staging minimizes the contribution from Brian MacDevitt's lighting design. Ann Roth's costumes are good, but Thomas Schall's fights are not. Rostam Batmanglij's original music is perfect, and effectively used by Sound Designers Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Director Anna D. Shapiro keeps her production intimate yet providing the linear expanse necessary for the actors to ply their talents and tell their story in Todd Rosenthal’s sparse setting. She brings these aimless, vacuous, somewhat emotionally comatose characters to full life with a spirit and passion that feels authentic. Lonergan’s elevated, almost poetic language sounds natural and, although the play is primarily character-driven, Ms. Shapiro creates an impressive evening of theatre in which the story evolves from three interesting young people’s relationship, and the result is pure entertainment."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Shapiro's directing keeps the pace brisk, even though there is very little physical action and the play is basically a series of one-on-one discussions and confrontations. But she brings out the humor in the essentially downbeat story and her orchestration of the scenes between Warren and Jessica are wonderful. The play runs a touch too long, especially in Dennis's self-serving monologue in the second act, but overall the crackling language, especially in the mouths of Cera and Gevinson, give the staging terrific zest and momentum."
The Fourth Walsh - Somewhat Recommended
"...The story reminded me of HBO's Girls. Sex, drugs and entitlement. Warren is thrown out of his father's house so he steals $15,000 on his way out. He takes his baggage to Dennis' apartment. Cera (Warren) is lackadaisical. Culkin (Dennis) is livid. At the core of the show is Cera and Culkin's friendship. Their interactions have genuineness. Cera is unflappable as Culkin sputters up a storm. Immediately, we understand their established ritual, Cera screws up and Culkin fixes it. Both Cera's flat affect and Culkin's emotional outbursts get laughs. Cera, especially, has perfect comedic timing. He has a way of extending a pause just a smidge longer that adds to his one liner comeback. The comedy is there. It's the drama that is missing. And without that significant piece in place, some of the humor goes unrealized."