Chicago discovered the writing of New Yorker Kenneth Lonergan early, regarding him as a literate bard of pimply, privileged youth.
Back in 1999 at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, Roadworks Productions produced the impressive Midwest premiere of Lonergan’s “This is Our Youth.” In somewhat of a prelude to the current batch of Manhattan rich-kid angst movies and books–from Burr Steers’ “Igby Goes Down” to young author Nick McDonell’s debut novel “Twelve”–“This is Our Youth” traced 48 hours in the lives of a group of Upper West Side adolescents. Lonergan blamed the values of the Reagan era for the moral paucity of an entire generation of rudderless, perpetual adolescents armed with their parents’ credit cards and no particular place to go.
“Everybody has to find their own way in the world,” Lonergan mused over the telephone from his Long Island home the other day, chatting about his first major hit. “Those characters were children who do not know how to become adults.”
Just three years ago, Lonergan was regarded as the latest hot young writer. That’s no longer the case: Lonergan turned 40 a few weeks ago. But despite the approach of middle age, he has no cause for any kind of midlife crisis.
Currently, Lonergan has two plays running simultaneously in London’s West End: “This is Our Youth” and his newest theatrical work, “Lobby Hero,” which opens in Chicago on Monday at the Goodman Theatre. The first of those titles has become a kind of theatrical vehicle for visiting young celebrities (and wannabes). The London cast roster has included Matt Damon, Kieran Culkin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Casey Affleck, Summer Phoenix and Anna Paquin.
“I guess there have been a lot of famous movie starlets coming over,” Lonergan said, utilizing his typically halting and self-deprecating phraseology. “I guess people like the play over there. It’s really all been a kind of fantasy for me.”
“This is Our Youth” is not his only successful work to date. Lonergan’s 2001 play “The Waverly Gallery” (impressively produced last season in Chicago by the Pegasus Players) was mentioned as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. And “Lobby Hero,” a play that revolves around the lives of four people in uniform, already has won a slew of playwriting awards.
In Chicago, “Lobby Hero” will play under the direction of Robert Falls. Since Falls generally chooses to direct classical revivals or new works at the Goodman–rather than plays with an Off-Broadway pedigree–his presence at the helm is a good indication of Lonergan’s reputation in the elite theatrical community.
But as is the case with so many capable dramatic writers, Lonergan now largely is working in film. His Hollywood star rose when he penned the independent film “You Can Count on Me,” a moving, familial drama that starred Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, garnering a best actress Oscar nomination for Linney and an original screenplay nomination for Lonergan. This was an unusually wise movie capable of exploring why some intelligent and well-educated people simply can never get their lives fully together.
It was, in some ways, a defense of the lovable, good-hearted loser.
Like all of Lonergan’s work, that screenplay felt like a small story–a piece of writing that focused on the tiny details of personal lives, not broad social themes. And its power resided in its ability to understand that many of us spend our days dealing with minutiae–it’s the small stuff, after all, that grinds most of us down.
“Most people’s lives are composed of dealing with their boss or bringing up their children,” Lonergan says. “I’ve always felt there’s a lot to be mined from the ordinary situation.”
Given that British theater often has tended to focus on political ideas–leaving relationship and emotions to Americans–it’s striking that Lonergan’s brand of relationship-driven angst has found such success in the West End.
“There are other writers who are good at large movements and big trends–like James Baldwin, who speaks in such sweeping terms,” Lonergan says. “I just don’t understand that. I really have a hard time thinking about things in a macro kind of way. I always find my way into situations by focusing on the particulars.
“You know, even huge things happen moment by moment. I don’t see what’s wrong with being a kind of molecular biologist instead of an astrophysicist.”
One possible huge thing in Lonergan’s future is “Gangs of New York,” the eagerly anticipated film from director Martin Scorsese for which Lonergan is one of three credited screenplay writers. The epic nature of this project appears to be a deviation from Lonergan’s usual style, but he says he’s known Scorsese for a while and has turned to him before for protection from the evils of Hollywood producers, many who have little regard for a writer’s feelings.
Right now, Lonergan is finishing up two screenplays for Hollywood studios–“Time and Again” and “The Once and Future King.” But he says the process has been “difficult.” Since he says he has little interest in films created by committee, he claims to have no plans to do more studio pictures, preferring to work only on independent films. And, maybe, another new play or two.
“At this point in my career,” he says, “I need an atmosphere where I’m in charge of what happens to my work.”
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“Lobby Hero”
When: Through Nov. 24
Where: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.
How Much: $15-$40; 312-443-3800