By: Jacob Belham | Contributing Writer
Show me a man who claims his family to be perfect, and I’ll show you a liar.
A production that can encapsulate some small aspect of human truth commands the respect of its audience, and Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs does just that. Directed by Patricia Hawkridge, the Salve Regina Department of Theatre has excellently portrayed what it means to be a family, both on stage and off.
I attended the Thursday, October 18th performance at the Casino Theatre, expecting to watch an irreverent and light-hearted comedy. Instead, I watched a play that cracks the veneer covering family life. Comedy is undoubtably present, but it’s used as the nail with which plot hammers home painful truths. Before the curtains first drew back, a jazz record from the 30s began to play. It was a nice tune, and painfully familiar. I racked my brain trying to think of the name of the song being played, but before I could, the music stopped, and the curtains drew back.
The audience was met with Set Director Barbara “Pippin” McGowan’s interior of the Jerome residence; downstage was a living room furnished with an antique sofa and a small bureau, downstage left a dining room table, upstage two bedrooms, and offstage left housed a couple of porch chairs. A vintage toy in the bureau, an old radio, faded posters, and several other careful touches here and there convinced me I was looking at the home of a family from 1937. The onstage staircase leading from the dining room to a hallway and the children’s bedrooms was a particularly impressive aspect of the set, and one that was used very well throughout the play. All of this put together forced the characters closer together, heightening tensions and exacerbating stressful circumstances.
The setting is the September of 1937 in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York. The first character to speak is Eugene Jerome, a character whose name the owner would denounce but one I’d say is perfect for the fifteen-year old. Eugene was the audience’s guide throughout the play, often narrating and quipping with asides, all the while struggling with his emerging adolescence. Each subsequent family member holds his or her own particular problems, with the main conflict arising when these character’s problems put them at odds with each other. Eugene’s brother Stanley wrestles with his principles, their father Jack struggles to support his family, Jack’s wife Kate worries for her sister Blanche, Blanche struggles with being a single-mother, Blanche’s Nora tries for independence, and Nora’s sister Laurie…well Laurie’s just a pest, really. The plot did drag in the beginning of the second act, which led to what felt like a very long run time, but the actors and actresses’ performances continued to engage throughout, despite the plot not doing so at times. The interactions between each character is the heart of the play. Their personal struggles and their conflicts with each other show that the love that exists in families isn’t perfect and harmonious, but it is unconditional. In Brighton Beach Memoirs, mothers are their own people and so are their children, a father struggles to cope, and growing up isn’t as simple as a sexual awakening. In the end, we learn that swallowing our feelings won’t solve our problems.
The real achievement of this production was the chemistry between the actors and actresses. Julia Curtin was a perfect illustration of the worried mother, and her interactions with Blanche are at times jarring and at times loving. I certainly felt sympathy for Madisyn Mugavero’s Blanche, whose uncertainty and helplessness led to one of the plays most somber moments. The patriarch Jack was played by the talented Danny Landino, whose skill shined in this role. Utilizing excellent range of emotion, Mr. Landino was able to fill the stage with tension, and the next moment wipe it away with warm humor. The chemistry in his conversation with Skylar Lasit’s Stanley was reminiscent of guilt- ridden conversations I’d had with my own father. Everyone in the play executed a convincing Brooklyn accent, especially Mr. Lasit and Ms. Mugavero, whose dialects were both uncanny. Vanessa Sciolto was able to turn what seemed to be a one-dimensional character into one whose brash actions veiled a deeper, primordial conflict between mother and daughter. Laurie was written as perhaps the most under developed character, but Morgan Salpietro still managed to elicit an endearing annoyance from the audience that fit in well with the play as a whole.
I believe Bradley Simpson is deserving of special recognition for his portrayal of Eugene. I’d previously seen Mr. Simpson in productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Putnam County Spelling Bee, and in each he demonstrated his penchant for comedy. However, his timing and delivery in Brighton Beach Memoirs was beyond comic relief; it stole the show. His role was not simply comedic though. In playing Eugene, Mr. Simpson was able to convey an incredible picture of naivety and angst that was both unique and familiar. Despite Mr. Simpson performing like a star, the only star in this play is the family as a whole. Each character has their own conflict and their own role to play, which I believe each performer expressed outstandingly.
In addition to the actors’ great performances, Joe Rossi and David Costa-Cabral provided very convincing costumes and hairstyles for the ensemble. As I’m sure Mr. Rossi and all of our grandmothers know, the 30s bob hairstyle isn’t easy to achieve, but it looked very appropriate on Julia Curtin’s Kate. Each individual costume, which was selected by Mr. Costa-Cabral, lent itself well to the feel of a struggling family in the 1930s, but also to a family that still felt it important to appear respectful. A special kudos is in order to Mr. Landino’s pencil moustache, which I am told is to be immediately shaved off following the final Sunday performance.
Barbara McGowan’s lighting was basic but fitting for a production like this, occasionally highlighting an interaction on the porch, or an aside by Mr. Simpson. Unfortunately, the stage lights went out during a dialogue between Stanley and Kate. The darkness lasted a considerable amount of time, but to the avail of Mr. Lasit and Ms. Curtin, the play continued in the dark. This was impressive considering that the actors were moving set pieces at the time. And once the lights came up again, Bradley executed an excellent ad lib, and all was forgiven.
When all was said and done, the performers came out for their walk-down and received a standing ovation from the audience.
Brighton Beach Memoirs is the kind of performance that forces its audience into introspection upon leaving the theater. As I walked away from the Casino that night, I thought of my own family, I thought of my own early adolescent experience, and I was comforted by all the dusty memories each one of us has.
