The Basement, A Fun House Theatre and Film Company of Young Adult Artists, Mounts Their First Production

Some of the most critically acclaimed and awarded young actors the D-FW area has ever embraced have formed their own theatrical Production Company and launch their endeavor this March with Kenneth Lonergan's THIS IS OUR YOUTH. The Basement is an offshoot of Fun House Theatre and Film, started by a group of young adult artists with the shared goal of not only continuing but taking charge of their own artistic development while honoring their previous training.

The company is guided by 4 tenets: serve the story, serve the performance, serve the audience and the actor is invisible. Although operating and producing work as an independent entity, the philosophy and artistic mindset of The Basement is solidly steeped in the teachings of Jeff Swearingen, Fun House's founder and artistic director.

The Basement is:
Doak Rapp- Founding Partner/Co-Artistic Director-18 years old
Chris Rodenbaugh-Founding Partner/Co-Artistic Director-19 years old
Taylor Donnelson-Founding Partner/Resident Artist-18 years old
Kennedy Waterman-Resident Artist-16 years old
Tex Patrello-Resident Artist-16 years old
Laney Neumann-Company Member-19 years old
Ashleigh Smith-Company Member-19 years old

The Production: The perfect first production metaphorically for where the young artists of The Basement find themselves, Kenneth Lonergan's THIS IS OUR YOUTH is an examination of characters existing in the chasm between late adolescence and adulthood. Produced by Doak Rapp and directed by D-FW Critics Forum Award winning actress, Kennedy Waterman, the venue, style and aesthetic of this production of Lonergan's heralded 1996 work is created to provide an intimate and realistic experience for audience members with a size of no more than 30 patrons a performance in a set up without a conventional stage and staging or overtly theatrical recreation of the play's locale. As part of The Basement's goal to attract a younger generation of theatergoers and turn them into lifelong arts patrons, tickets for high school and college students are only $5 to every performance.

THIS IS OUR YOUTH is a snapshot of 48 hours in the lives of three young people during their attempt to make it out in the world as adults. In the early 1980's, at the dawn of the Reagan Era, these articulate, wealthy, recreational drug using teens from Manhattan's Upper West Side must enter into a society which recently rejected the ideas and ideals of their liberal upbringings. Ideas and ideals which were all they were equipped with, at once seemingly sophisticated and yet not nearly as effective for blazing a path as they thought.

Three lost souls, that could have been plucked right out of today's young population, become intwined in this funny but also striking tale of arrested development: Warren, a dejected nineteen year old who has just stolen $15,000 from his abusive, tycoon father; Dennis, his charismatic drug-dealing friend who helps Warren put the stolen money to good use and Jessica, an insightful young woman who Warren yearns for.

Production Details:
Kenneth Lonergan's THIS IS OUR YOUTH
Produced by Doak Rapp
Directed by Kennedy Waterman
Featuring:
Tex Patrello as Warren
Doak Rapp as Dennis
Taylor Donnelson as Jessica

Show Times and Dates:
7:30 Thursday, March 23
7:30 Friday, March 24
2:30 Saturday, March 25
7:30 Saturday, March 25

Stone Cottage Theatre at Addison Conference and Theatre Center
15650 Addison Road
Addison, TX 75001

Adult Admission: $10
High School and College Students $5
Tickets available online up to one hour prior to show time @http://basementthisisouryouth.brownpapertickets.com/ and at the door

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