Everything you need to stream the play reading which also stars Lucas Hedges
If you’ve lost count of what Normal People rewatch you’re on and now have all the words to Rolling Stones track “Scarlet” memorised thanks to constant viewings but are still looking for your Paul Mescal fix, we have good news for you.
The actor who can wear a chain like no other is set to star in a one-off virtual reading of Kenneth Lonergan’s This is Our Youth, his debut “Broadway” performance.
The reading comes as part of producer Jeffrey Richards’ “Spotlight on Plays” online readings initiative. Launched back in May not long after the pandemic shut down live theatre in New York, the series aims to keep actors making art through the lockdown and support the Actors Fund, a nonprofit that helps performing arts professionals.
“This seemed to be something that would keep theater alive in me and, I hope, the many people who watch it,” Richards told the New York Times at the time. “I miss Broadway very much, and I hope this will whet people’s appetite to come and see live theater when we return.”
The second edition of the series opens tomorrow (Oct 14) with Gore Vidal’s political drama The Best Man, starring Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick, Phylicia Rashad and Zachary Quinto. This is Our Youth will stream next Tuesday (Oct 20) and will star Lucas Hedges and Grace Van Patten alongside Mescal. A hybrid of stage and screen, the readings are not live but rehearsed once and recorded on Zoom from where the actors are currently isolating.
Kenneth Lonergan’s play debuted Off-Broadway in 1996 with Mark Ruffalo cast in the lead role. It follows the lives of three young New Yorkers at the dawn of the Reagan Era, the “last pathetic remnants of Upper West Side Jewish liberalism.” Expect theft, drug-dealing, and youthful desires as the characters contend with feeling adrift in the materialism of the 1980s.
The performance will be available to watch worldwide, premiering on October 20 at 8:00pm EST, and then available to watch on demand for a 72-hour window. To purchase your ticket head to TodayTix. There is a minimum donation of $5.