Lost in Yonkers
by Neil Simon
From 26th January 2004
To 31st January 2004
Description
Simon's 1991 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play focuses on two young boys who are forced to live for a year with their domineering, ill-tempered grandmother while their father takes a job in another state. At their Grandmothers house, we meet the rest of the family; Aunt Bella, slightly simple in the head, Uncle Louie, a small-time gangster, and Aunt Gert, so tyrannized that she forgets to stop talking whenever she breathes in.
The family have all found different ways of surviving: Uncle Louie's life in the underworld; the boys' refuge in humour and late-night trips to the candy store for ice cream; Bella's constant search for unconditional love and acceptance; Gert who is locked in the past and most significantly Grandma Kurnitz, whose tough, coldhearted exterior, we discover, is a reaction to a lifetime of devastating pain and loss.
Lost in Yonkers is a play about finding one's way through the tangled webs of familial relationships and attempting to survive life without losing the sense of self. It is a mix of comedy and drama with hilarious one-liners that continually the poignancy of the difficult family relationships.
A beautiful play from the writer of the Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park, Plaza Suite and Last of the Red Hot Lovers.
Directors Notes
I personally feel privileged to be associated with a Neil Simon play a playwright who has not been neglected by The Nonentities, having performed many of his plays in the past such as “The Odd Couple,” “ Plaza Suite,” The Last of The Red Hot Lovers,” The Odd Couple” (female version) “California Suite” “Barefoot In The Park” and now “Lost In Yonkers” which has been such a pleasure to direct. Advice given to actors is never! work with animals and children, but this cast did not heed the advice and rightly so, the two young men that you see tonight have been absolute treasures, we couldn’t have had better. The cast and backstage crew have been delighted with them. I would like to extend to the boys and their parents the gratitude of The Nonentities, we could not have performed this play without having two such talented youngsters.