“When we did it in Chicago, we did it in a more intimate stage and a more intimate venue,” Rosenthal tells PLSN. “It’s a play that only has two people on stage for most of the show. What we wanted to do — as opposed to just portaling down, which felt like we were trying to turn a Broadway theater into a smaller theater — was [show that] they were a smaller box in this big world around them that they’re trying to confront.”
The Chicago production featured a narrower configuration with the audience on two sides as it was performed a small space. “We didn’t have a ceiling, and there were only suggestions of walls,” he explains. “They were completely different conceits altogether.” In New York, the visual stakes were raised with the larger textured sets, which were predominately steel backed with wood with Plexiglas windows. The brick edifice was made from a plastic Vacuform product from Peter Evans Studios in the U.K.
“The design was to enclose them in this little box with this giant space around them,” says Rosenthal. “Initially, we treated that upstage wall very realistically, and it just felt too heavy handed, so we actually painted it this bone white color to detract it a little bit and pop the box within this more monochromatic surround. Initially, we wanted all of those rooms [above] to be fleshed out, like fully furnished apartments so you really felt like they were part of a community, but it was way too expensive.”
Adding a Backdrop and Skylight
Having such an imposing backdrop presented the quandary of distracting from the performances below it, and Rosenthal was very aware of that concern. “I knew that someone was going to look at this and go, ‘Wow, this should just have been done in a smaller space. Why did they expend so many resources on this gesture?’” he recalls, adding that producer Scott Rudin, director Anna D. Shapiro, lighting designer Brian MacDevitt and himself all thought “it was really important that they get a sense that they are part of this really imposing world around them, and the weight of the city above them was an important image. So we went for it. I think some people responded really favorably to it, and some people feel it’s too much, but I like it. I think the play deals with really big ideas and can handle a larger vessel, and having this soaring space behind them makes them feel really small and like they’re almost in outer space.”
The impressive backdrop does occasionally encourage one’s eyes to wander, even if they are transfixed by the drama below, just to take in the scope and feeling of the space, the lighting for which changes from a nighttime feel in Act I to morning light in Act II. “I thought Brian [MacDevitt] did a really wonderful job activating that upstage area,” says the scenic designer. “I love the time of day stuff, and I think it was really impressive what he was able to do with a set that is essentially covered with a ceiling.”
One advantage that MacDevitt had with Rosenthal’s set was the inclusion of a 10-by-five-foot skylight in the center of the apartment. It made it easier to bring in outside light and not have to hide a lot of lights within the set. “I think the skylight in the ceiling really helped with the backlight and overhead look,” says Rosenthal. “It was really challenging, because oftentimes [with this kind of set] it’s all about front lighting and it becomes really flat. But we couldn’t do a realistic apartment space without a ceiling. It just didn’t look right.”
Going Back in Time
In terms of set dressing, when Rosenthal went shopping for props, he wanted to find things that were distinct to the character of Dennis Ziegler, the drug dealer subsidized by his parents’ rent money, and whose apartment the play is set in. Since discussion of his athletic abilities emerge, trophies line his shelves. Given that this studio apartment is his man cave, he owns a lot of comic books. Despite his affluent background, he seems less concerned with nice furniture and more with his record collection.
“We put in a really bad ass stereo from the 1980s,” says Rosenthal. “He has [board] games from the ‘80s. His musical tastes are eclectic. He’s not into Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin, he’s more into Frank Zappa, [Captain] Beefheart, and that stuff. We went after more eclectic music. We thought Richard Pryor would be somebody he listens to, and he talks about The Honeymooners, so there are photos of The Honeymooners on his wall. Then there’s Duke Ellington. He’s got pretty high-end tastes.”
Such selections were not just a whim of the set designer, who wanted to be careful to avoid ‘80s stereotypes. He did not want everything to be completely recognizable for that era and wanted to show that Ziegler was his own person with individualized tastes. “We showed Kenny Lonergan, the playwright, everything we were going to put up there, and we waited for him to okay, it because this play is overtly autobiographical,” explains Rosenthal. “These are people that he knew. We walked around the Upper West Side, and he pointed [out] the places where this guy lived or this guy lived, the people from the play.”
One critic stated that other than a few references, This Is Our Youth could have taken place in other decades, but perhaps that is because it does not have overt pop culture references. But that adds to the realness. “For me, the thing that really sets this [play] in the period in the play is the [corded] phone,” says Rosenthal. “Everybody who lived in that period knows what it’s like to drag that phone around and have that [long] cord to deal with. A huge part of that life was this umbilical. It was a great prop for the actors, because they could drag that phone around and could use it to nuance their performance.” Indeed, the technological aspects alone (the phone, record player and lack of a personal computer), not to mention the referenced drug culture, ground the play in the ‘80s.
“Another reason why this thing wouldn’t work today is all the stuff about, ‘I know a guy. I know a guy who can take care of this,’” continues Rosenthal, referencing when one of the characters seeks to sell his vintage toy and memorabilia collection. “Today, he would put his [toy] collection up on eBay. Or he would photograph it and send it around to a bunch of people to get the best offer. That’s not the way it operated back then. You did everything mano a mano. You went over to the guy’s house if you wanted to buy something or sell something or see something. You couldn’t Google something.”
Given the world of these specific characters, it might be easy to roll your eyes and smirk at the poor little rich kids syndrome, but playwright Lonergan and director Shapiro wring pathos and empathy out of the situation. The themes present in the material are universal and can apply to modern kids of different backgrounds as well.
“It’s all about perspective, and that’s also about being young,” stresses Rosenthal. “The only thing that’s really important is what’s inside your own head. Through maturity you realize you’re part of a larger community, and I think one of the lessons that they come to at the end of the play is that there are repercussions for their actions. What happens when they do things to people like that” — such as Michael Cera’s character quietly stealing $15,000 in cash from his abusive father and running away — “is permanent. That sense of immortality really starts to diminish as the play progresses, which I think is part of growing up. They grow up a lot in one day.”
A Shared Vision
One of the factors that contributed to This Is Our Youth coming together is the synergy of its key players, and the production gave the scenic designer a new perspective.
“I dealt very, very closely with Scott Rudin,” explains Rosenthal. “I don’t always love intervention by the producer, but he’s really smart, very savvy and has been an invaluable resource in terms of modifying and fine tuning the design. I really enjoyed working with him. He’s very demanding, but he’s also of those few producers I know that if he really believes in something he will pay for it if he thinks it’s a really strong idea. He’s a huge proponent of the arts. Ultimately he’s a money guy, but I think deep down inside he really wants the art to be good. I haven’t met a huge amount of people in this business like that. I think he is a pretty special guy in that way.”
Rosenthal has worked with director Anna D. Shapiro on nearly all of her productions, and their collaboration extends back to their days at Yale graduate school in the early ‘90s. “We’re best buddies,” he says. “We have a bit of a shorthand. We live near each other and both teach at Northwestern University. She’s fantastic in rehearsal with the actors, and once we’re in tech. We’ve had a reasonable amount of success in New York, so hopefully that will continue.”
