Director: Ros and Michael Berg
Director: Ros and Michael Berg
Performances: Thursday 19th, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st October at 8pm at the Henrietta Barnett School Theatre, Central Square, NW11.
The play: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy by Neil Simon. It tells the story of a Jewish teenager named Eugene Jerome who experiences puberty, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family, including his older brother Stanley, whom he idolizes. It is set in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York City in 1937. Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first play in what is known as the "Eugene Trilogy".
We were privileged to have Harry Towb, who played Jack at the National Theatre in
1986, attend one of our rehearsals. He entertained the cast with anecdotes and stories
from that production. Neil Simon attended the NT rehearsals and Harry’s observation
on the autobiographical nature of the play was that “it provided an idealised version
of the family life that Simon would have liked to experience.”
We don’t want to pre-empt our review, but Harry did say that we seemed to have captured
the humour and intimacies of Jewish family life that are the essence of the play.
He referred to the Talmudic nature of Jack’s character “on the one hand you should….
but the on the other……….” Fortunately he didn’t give us the ‘other hand’ nature
of his observation! Harry has a special feeling for this play and his only regret
is that he is now too old to play Eugene or Stan.
The GST hasn't performed a Neil Simon play since The Last of the Red Hot Lovers over twenty years ago. When we were asked to direct, Neil Simon seemed an obvious choice and Brighton Beach Memoirs a natural selection. It has the right balance of humour and poignancy, and has a great insight into the intimacies of Jewish family life.
Set in 1937 the effects of the depression hang over the crowded household of the Jerome and Morton families. It impinges on their dignity and moral values, and forces them to confront the nature of relationships between siblings, mother and daughter, and father and son. Looming over them is the darkness of happenings in Europe and the impact on their relatives. Fifteen year old Eugene Jerome observes the goings on, writing it all down in his notebook, his Memoirs.
Some of you may remember the National Theatre's production of Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1986. Neil Simon was interviewed for the programme by Sheridan Morley and he provided insights on the autobiographical nature of the play. As Mr Simon does not like any tampering with his words, there is an extract below!
We hope you enjoy this performance of Brighton Beach Memoirs and look forward to seeing you at future GST productions.
Ros & Michael Berg
| Eugene Jerome | Alon Witztum |
| Blanche Morton | Dianne Kingsley |
| Kate Jerome | Judith Gubbay |
| Laurie | Hilary Udow |
| Nora | Robyn Jacobs |
| Stanley Jerome | Matthew Ali |
| Jack Jerome | Nick Vause |
| DIRECTORS | ROS and MICHAEL BERG |
| Production Assistant | Lynda Gordon |
| Set Designer | Jane Rogers |
| Stage Manager | Mark Overall |
| Lighting Designer | Tim Solomons |
| Lights operated by | Miranda Solomons |
| Assisted by | Nichola Vasey |
| Sound | Angelo Menezes |
| Ass't Stage Manager | Christopher Ali |
| Props | Kay Graham Diana Bromley |
| Make-up | Joyce Jayes |
| Costumes | Joyce Jayes |
| Prompt | Pamela Walker |
| Advance Booking | Maureen Colmans |
| Box Office | Angie Wright |
| Programme | Tony Newton |
| Poster Design | Natalie Spanier |
| Publicity | Tony Newton John Woolf |
| Photographs | David Lane |
| Front of House Manager | Daphna Witztum |
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Neil Simon is the world's most successfuyl playwrite and is the only one to have four Broadway productions running simultaneously. His true success, however, is in his unique way of exposing something real in the American spirit.
Born in the Bronx on 4th July, 1927, Marvin Neil Simon grew up in Manhattan and for a short time attended NYU and the University of Denver. In the early 1950s he joined the staff of Your Show of Shows, a landmark live television comedy series. Sid Caesar's hilariously cutting-edge program had some of the best comic minds in television working for it, including Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart and Carl Reiner. By the 1960s Simon had begun to concentrate on writing plays for Broadway. His first hit came in 1961 with Come Blow Your Horn and was soon after followed by the very successful comic romance Barefoot in the Park.
Simon's brother, Danny, played a major role in his writing. Eight and a half years older, Danny brought Simon into the business and had showed him the ropes. Danny provided the inspiration for one of Simon's most enduring hits. After his divorce, Danny moved in with another divorced man, and this situation became the set-up for The Odd Couple (1966). Though Danny had begun writing the story himself, he reached a block and eventually handed it over to Neil who soon made it a smash on Broadway.
By 1973 Simon was a major voice in contemporary comedy. But, that year he entered a low period in his life, when his wife of twenty years, died. Some time later, he met the actress Marsha Mason, and they were married. His 1977 play, Chapter Two, dramatises the grief of a newly remarried man trying to start over after his wife has died. Chapter Two was considered one of his finest works and he followed it with a musical, They're Playing Our Song.
Simon has drawn extensively on his own life and experience for materials for his plays. Many of his works take place in the working-class New York neighbourhoods he knew so well as a child. With his autobiographical trilogy, Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), Biloxi Blues (1985), and Broadway Bound (1986), Simon created a touching portrait of an individual, his family, and the world around them. With these plays, SImon found his greatest critical acclaim, and for his 1991 follow-up, Lost in Yonkers Simon was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
Jack Lemmon once said, "Neil has the ability to write characters - even the leading characters that we're supposed to root for - that are absolutely flawed. They have foibles. They have faults. But, they are human beings. They are not all bad or all good; they are people we know."
Alon was Peter in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Reggie Boggis in The Accrington Pals, and Eric Birling in An Inspector Calls. He has appeared in playreadings, playing many parts in last months Magnolia Street and has done the sound for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Fallen Angels. For the North London Performing Arts Centre he played Mr Brownlow in Oliver! at the Bull Theatre. Family is strong in Alon's life and his sister, mother and father have all been involved in GST shows.
Dianne's first appearance for GST was as the housekeeper in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Formerly in South Africa, she appeared as Lady Macbeth, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, the Baroness in The Sound of Music, Tseitl in Fiddler on the Roof, the Gingerbread Lady (Neil Simon), and the Mother in Kindertransport. Her comment on family life and children is "Oy vey!"
Hilary is making her debut with GST. She says that although she has acted in a few school plays, this is her first real production! Let's hope there are many more, Hilary, and that your family are proud of you.
Judith has been in plays since she was a teenager at the Maccabi Youth Club, and in many productions for GST since her debut as the flat-chested spinster in Habeas Corpus, including roles in The Wizard of Oz (as the Wicked Witch), Worzel Gummidge (as Aunt Sally), English Conversation, Outside Edge, Nicholas Nickleby, Still Life (as Myrtle Bagot) "and countless other sluts, put-upon wives and old bags, so it's nice to be house-proud for a change", she says. Most relevantly, and resonantly, she played the mother in The Diary of Anne Frank - a chilling reminder that the threat over the Jerome family in Brighton Beach Memoirs was to become all too real for some families.
Matthew has played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream for GST and was Sky Masterson in his school production of Guys & Dolls; he was also in Little Shop of Horrors. His family recently acquired a 10-week old puppy which Matthew says is gorgeous! Matthew's brother Christopher is also involved in the show backstage.
Nick joined GST in 2002 to play a kidnapper in the Dario Fo farce Abducting Diana. Since then, he has returned to the company to play a variety of roles in Babe - the Sheep Pig and Jimmy Porter in Robert Jayes' award-winning production of Look Back in Anger - an experience he very much enjoyed. He is a member of several local companies, including the Hertfordshire Players and Potters Bar Theatre Company, having recently appeared in the 'Boris Karloff part' in their production of Arsenic and Old Lace. As a family memory, Nick remembers being a member of the same local Hertfordshire youth theatre group as fellow GST member, Mary Musker. That formative experience gave him his love of theatre, and particulaly, an appreciation of Shakespeare which has stayed with him forever since!
Robyn was in The Stars pageant, Babe - the Sheep Pig, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The role of Nora is the first 'real person' part! She is currently directing her school's production of His Dark Materials. Other members of Robyn's family, her younger brother Pascal and sister Pamina were also in Charlie.
