Kenneth Lonergan's This is Our Youth will receive its Midwest debut in the Steppenwolf Theatre's Garage Oct. 14-Nov. 14 in this Roadworks production. Roadworks ensemble member Abigail Deser will direct.

This is Our Youth, the tale of Dennis, Warren and Jessica, three rich college kids who steal $15,000 and have to negotiate everything from sex to drugs to escape getting caught, made its off-off-Broadway debut in 1996. An off-Broadway transfer looked imminent, but didn't happen until two years later, when in Dec., 1998 Second Stage revived the play with its original director Mark Brokaw and original stars Mark Ruffalo and Missy Yager. The play then transferred to the Douglas Fairbanks, where it ran from Jan. 26, 1999 to May 2.

Other Lonergan works include the Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal film, "Analyze This," The Lobby, the one-act You Can Count On Me and The Waverly Gallery, making its premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival Aug. 11-22.

Set to star in Youth will be Roadworks vets Lance Baker (Dealer's Choice, Santaland Diaries) and Armando Riesco (Stupid Kids).

Deser's credits include Roadworks' Dealer's Choice, Disappeared and The Soldier Dreams. She will direct the Steppenwolf Mainstage production of Patrick Marber's Closer in Feb., 2000. Tickets ($20-$10) are available by calling the box office at (312) 335 1650. Roadworks is located on the web http://www.roadworks.org.

-- By Christine Ehren