What a romp. Hitting right on the mark of growing up
in Brooklyn in the early 1940s–
and the dialogue getting comfortably under your skin . . .
“Eugene! All day it takes you to bring home bread?”
(Eugene has been sent to the store—again, to Greenblatt’s, and
his mother, Kate Jerome, is actively on his case as always.)
Eugene and his older brother, Stan, his parents, Kate and Jack,
live in a house a couple of blocks from the shore. Also living
there are Eugene’s Aunt Blanche, and her daughters Nora and
Laurie. It’s another story with extended family living “for a while”
with a sister’s family until things get better.
Eugene is the main character here, and his road to adulthood is
challenged by the unknown mysteries of the feminine gender,
but we joyfully wade right in and laugh along with the audience
which enjoyed this play for 1299 Broadway performances.
Neil Simon is king—he’s not to be disregarded as a light playwright,
for he has the right tone, the right thrust to make his familial stories
be funny, yes, but hauntingly truthful, too.
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Four button review.
Sounds like fun. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a couple Neil Simon plays on stage (don’t ask me which ones though!) and enjoyed them very much.