It’s another hit for Northlight.
After the success of last month’s “Chapatti,” Northlight Theatre finishes their 2013/2014 season with Neil Simon’s “Lost In Yonkers,” which won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and four Tony Awards.
The play, directed here by Devon de Mayo, opens with teenage brothers Jay and Arty waiting in their grandmother’s living room in World War II Yonkers. They complain about their hot suits and the crazy people on their father’s side of the family—their strict Grandma (Ann Whitney), childlike and forgetful Aunt Bella (Linsey Page Morton), mob bag man Uncle Louie (Erik Hellman), and Aunt Gert (Anne Fogarty), whose only flaw is her inability to breathe properly.
Unfortunately for these two teens, they need to get used to this family—and fast. Their father, Eddie (Timothy Edward Kane), owes quite a bit of money after his wife’s battle with cancer and he announces he’s accepted one of the many jobs now available due to the war. Despite his frequent absence from his mother’s home in recent years, Eddie asks her to take in his two boys. She reluctantly agrees, but makes sure Jay and Arty know she isn’t a fan of their noise and dirt (even though she had six kids of her own).
The first act of this play belongs to Alistair Sewell and Sebastian W. Weigman (Jay and Arty). They have the audience laughing within seconds of the lights coming up, and they maintain their perfect comedic timing throughout. The play certainly has its heavy moments, and these two bring much-needed comedy to this drama.
However, it is the second act that highlights the incredibly talented Linsey Page Morton. She steals the show with her monologue about desperately wanting love after receiving so little from her own mother while growing up. Her desire for children that she would raise in a home filled with hugs and laughter—so different from her own upbringing—brought tears to my eyes. Every scene between her and Ann Whitney is heartbreaking.
At the outset, it appears that this is a coming-of-age story about two brothers forced to stay with a grandmother they barely know. By play’s end, it turns into a story about a broken mother-daughter relationship that seeks healing after 35 years of pain.
Although love was frequently lost in this Yonkers home, perhaps it can now be found.
“Lost In Yonkers” runs through June 8 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. For tickets ($25-75) and more information, visit the theatre’s website or call the box office at 847-673-6300.
Photo by Michael Brosilow.
