Coming-of-age story tackles issue of sexuality

by Monica Booker, contributing writer

“Brighton Beach Memoirs” marks the first installment of professional playwright Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical trilogies (including “Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound”). Simon’s plays tend to be comedies dealing with the plight of urban upper-middle-class families with sitcom-like premises.

“Brighton Beach Memoirs” follows an aspiring writer, Eugene Jerome (Simon’s self-reflection), growing up in a Jewish household in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. It is a coming-of-age story that handles the hardships of living with family conflicted with one’s blossoming sexuality.

“Actually, I would give up writing if I could see a naked girl while I was eating ice cream,” Eugene says during the play.

Junior Neal Kowalsky decided to direct the play for the same autobiographical reasons as Simon.

 “This is a show that I have wanted to do for about four or five years, and to finally see my vision mold into what it is, it’s just amazing,” he said.  “This is my first time directing, which some may think as a handicap, but you need to start somewhere. And the experience has been awesome; I enjoy going to the theater every day.”

The characters depend largely on the sardonic dialogue, which propels the plot and keeps that Simon-esque comedic pulse of the show pumping. In the ’80s it was made into a film, but critics tend to agree that “Brighton Beach Memoirs” is more suitable for the stage. With the play comes a certain nostalgia for the past and shows the inseparable bond of family.

“Brighton Beach Memoirs” will be shown in Theatre II Tuesday, Oct. 11 through Saturday, Oct. 15. Advanced tickets will be sold Monday, Oct. 10, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Theatre II. Tickets are $3.