Two brothers: Jay (15) and Artie (13) have been left to live with their eccentric Aunt Bella and their grandmother, a battle-ax from the old country. Their dad, Eddie (forced to pay the hospital bills) must travel for a year. Bella helps Grandma run a candy store downstairs, their source of income. There are no freebies for her kids. Ice Cream or Lemon Drops, they must pony up. You might say Artie is the classic Enfant Terrible, a gloriously wiseass kid, saying what everyone else is thinking. Jay and Artie are in a genuine pickle. If their Grandma intimidates adults, what chance have they got?
Dad writes letters detailing his adventures as he goes from state to state, city to city. The boys get acquainted with Aunt Bella, sweet as pie, but a bit loopy. Uncle Louie comes to visit, with all the bravado of a gangster, but touchy when the subject comes up. Louis is one of those fantastic uncles, rejecting the formality the boys show for respect. He confides in them, explaining how the world actually works. Tickles them with blue jokes. Because that’s what uncles do, for crying out loud. He and Aunt Bella take Grandma down a few pegs when they expose her conniving. She’s not a paragon of virtue.
There’s something about Grandma’s presence, chilling and disparaging, that suggests a kind of trauma. Unless I miss my guess (and I often do) Grandma Kurnitz was affected by the Holocaust. This is never brought up. Perhaps this explains her severe demeanor. Her insistence on calling the boys by their Hebrew names. Lost in Yonkers is seen from the viewpoint of Jay and Artie. Jay is just beginning to understand what it means to be a teenager. How rough must it be, for them to navigate the grownup world? If nothing else, the boys see the reasons behind adult behavior. Perhaps this helps them endure Planet Grandma.
Neil Simon’s splendid (with a couple of exceptions) plays seem to follow a similar strategy. Humor as relief from misery. Or the catastrophic. In some of them, say Barefoot in the Park or Come Blow Your Horn, comedy gets the front seat. Newlyweds who might not be compatible, a younger brother, recklessly sowing his wild oats. Simon plays them for laughs. The Sunshine Boys and The Gingerbread Lady, are far more somber. The jokes are there, but more like life preservers in a storm. Lost in Yonkers is a coming of age story, with comic relief. It never crosses the line into pathos. But it asks what must do, in a life that smacks us down.
Enthusiastic applause for the players in this demanding show: Zachary Carvajal (Jay) Aubrey Goodman (Artie) Kevin Michael Fuld (Eddie) Amy Knoles (Bella) Karen Jordan (Grandma Kurnitz) Joe Cuccinotti (Louis) Megan Tormey (Gert). Intrepid co-directors Rachael Lindley and Deborah Key, deserve (at the very least) a medal for achieving such balance, nuance, and difficult tone. Their work in Lost in Yonkers is astonishing.
Richardson Theatre Centre presents: Lost in Yonkers, playing May 17th -June 2nd, 2024. 518 West Arapaho Road, Suite 113, Richardson, Texas 75080. 972-699-1130. www.richardsontheatrecentre.net.